Digger, Dozer, Dumper by Hope Vestergaard

If you have a toddler who is at all like mine, diggers are the coolest thing on the planet. We have two different housing developments going up right now by our neighborhood, and every time we walk or drive by, my two-year-old wants to stop to watch the "diggers digging." He is always bummed out when it's after 5 pm and the diggers are "sleeping." But when we can't watch the real diggers working, the next best thing is reading books about them! We seem to find a new digger or truck book check out from the library almost every week (which proves to me that there must be other kids as obsessed as mine)! We've found several winners, but my favorite, hands-down, is Digger, Dozer, Dumper by Hope Vestergaard and illustrated by David Slonim.

Rather than telling a story, "Digger, Dozer, Dumper" is actually a book of poetry with each poem showcasing a different truck. I love that the poems aren't silly like a lot of poetry for kids but instead pack a lot of information about the function and mechanics of each vehicle. Kids will learn that a garbage truck uses a hydraulic arm to lift the garbage cans, a skid-steer loader uses levers instead of a steering wheel, and a backhoe uses it's front end to push dirt and it's back end to "dig out muck."

While the poems are informational, that doesn't mean they are boring! Hope Vestergaard is a master poet and her perfect use of rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration make my word-loving heart sing. The poems personify the trucks, sparking kids' imaginations as they wonder what it would be like to actually BE a firetruck, bulldozer, or steamroller. David Slonim's illustrations add to the wonderment, with simple lines and cheerful colors. Digger, Dozer, Dumper is a joy to read and one I can happily read to my kids over and over again.

Finally, I always appreciate when authors/illustrators make the effort to reach a wider, more diverse audience, and Digger, Dozer, Dumper does that in the simplest way possible...by making some of the trucks girls! The use of feminine pronouns and eyelashes drawn on the "girl" trucks suddenly makes the book appeal to little girls as well as boys and sets this book apart from most of the digger/truck books out there. Digger, Dozer, Dumper is a must-read for any truck-loving boy or girl!