The New Old Truck

A young girl turns her imagination into action in this beautifully crafted and intricately designed debut picture book. When is an old truck something more? On a small, bustling farm, a resilient and steadfast pickup works tirelessly alongside the family that lives there, and becomes a part of the dreams and ambitions of the family’s young daughter. After long days and years of hard work leave the old truck rusting in the weeds, it’s time for the girl to roll up her sleeves. Soon she is running her own busy farm, and in the midst of all the repairing and restoring, it may be time to bring her faithful childhood companion back to life. With an eye-catching retro design and cleverly nuanced illustrations, The Old Truck celebrates the rewards of determination and the value of imagination.

"Old Truck backfires, graunches gears, won't start and often has to be towed. Retired, rejected and shut up in a shed, he feels old and useless. Is this the end of Old Truck? Then brother John comes homes..."--Cover.

Simple, subtle, and drolly funny, the Pumphrey brothers’ newest picture book is a layered exploration of the foolishness of making assumptions and the virtue of curiosity. When four swamp creatures looking to cross a river come upon a log that would allow for precisely that, they can’t believe their luck. But a questionable tail adjacent to that log gives them second thoughts. Opossum believes it’s a sneaky tail and that they must pass it quietly. Squirrel thinks it’s a scary tail that can be cowed by intimidation. Rabbit decides it’s a mean tail that deserves a taste of its own medicine. As the critters exhaust approaches one by one, Mouse, the smallest of the lot, observes their folly and adjusts accordingly. But is it the mouse or the tail that will defy expectations? Pairing their iconic illustration style with a wry irreverence, the Pumphrey brothers have crafted a delightful tale that reminds us to think before we act.

Construction on Old MacDonald’s farm leads to a new spin on the classic nursey rhyme in this colorful picture book you can read—and sing—aloud. Old MacDonald has some new friends on the farm: Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he had a . . . TRUCK?! With a DIG DIG here and a SCOOP SCOOP there, this classic folk song just got revved up! Beloved machines—the excavator, dump truck, bulldozer, and more—will have vehicle enthusiasts of all ages reading and singing along. Fans of Old MacDonald Had a Boat and Old MacDonald’s Things That Go will love this entertaining read (and sing-aloud book) with a surprise ending. Praise for Old MacDonald Had a Truck “A new twist on a classic story and song, this book is just pure fun.” —School Library Journal “Loads of infectious fun make this a read-aloud treat.” —Kirkus Reviews

It's time to start your engines in this Richard Scarry classic all about vehicles! Buckle-up for a fun-filled day of planes, trains, automobiles . . . and even a pickle truck! Featuring hundreds of clearly labeled vehicles, this is the perfect book for little vehicle fans from the one and only Richard Scarry.

"Old Truck is home alone when the Tongariro River bursts its banks. 'What will happen to me?' he thinks. 'I am not a duck! I'm a truck. And I'm stuck!'"--Back cover. Includes factual information about the flooding in Turangi in February 2004 when the Tongariro River burst its banks, and what to do to prepare for a flood.

"Know thy gadgets; first step in restoring some kind of wholeness to one's life." So observes John Jerome about his purpose for rebuilding a 1950 Dodge pickup. Yes, he needs the truck to haul manure, but Jerome also hopes that "by knowing every nut, lockwasher, and cotter pin I could have a machine that had some meaning to me." Thus his year-long odyssey under the hood, among the brake shoes and valves, becomes more than a mechanic's memoir; it is a meditation on machines, metaphysics, and the moral universe. Nearly two decades after publication in 1977, the essential dilemma of Truck still rings true: as Jerome dismantles the aged straight six, he also disassembles our reliance on "two-hundred-dollar appliances that sport flaws in thirty-five-cent parts" and decries the "deliberate encapsulation, impenetrability, of the overtechnologized things with which we furnish our lives." Despite gouged knuckles, a frigid New Hampshire winter, frustrating and inexplicable assemblies, and a close call when the truck rolls off its jacks, he perseveres. In the end, he admits, "I did not find God out there in the barn" among the cans of nuts and bolts." What he does find, however, is that he must make peace with technology; it's a mistake, he says, to "assume there is a point on that line between the caveman's club and the moon shot that marks the moral turnaround, before which technology was somehow benign, after which it is malign." While Jerome gains a truck that runs-sometimes-we gain new insight into a technology that continues to encroach upon our lives.

"The full illustrated history of Chevrolet, from the Series 490 to today's Silverado and Colorado"--

"Does Grandpa like the old truck? ... Word count 52"--Back cover.

“A touching and very funny account. . . . Thoroughly engaging.”—New York Times Hilarious and heartfelt, Truck: A Love Story is the tale of a man struggling to grow his own garden, fix his old pickup, and resurrect a love life permanently impaired by Neil Diamond. In the process, he sets his hair on fire, is attacked by wild turkeys, and proposes marriage to a woman in New Orleans. The result is a surprisingly tender testament to love. “Part Bill Bryson, part Anne Lamott, with a skim of Larry the Cable Guy and Walt Whitman creeping around the edges.”—Lincoln Journal Star “Perry takes each moment, peeling it, seasoning it with rich language, and then serving it to us piping hot and fresh.”—Chicago Tribune