Synopses & Reviews
Here are five trucks with a single purpose. Clue #1: A boy and his father watch the busy drivers of the five trucks through a large window. clue #2: A plaid suitcase is an important part of the progress that father and son are following. The five trucks -- each labeled appropriately as catering truck, baggage tractor, baggage conveyor, mechanic's truck, and push-out tractor -- all belong to a team. And their focus? One airplane, which viewers gradually see in greater and greater detail as takeoff nears. The text is brisk, the watercolor illustrations meticulous yet breezy. At the end, the airborne boy waves through his plane window at the five drivers who have become -- for him and this appealing book's young audience -- as good as friends.
Review
Floca's ability to interweave so much story and atmosphere into a concept book is sure to raise our expectations of those to come. ( Horn Book Magazine, March/April 1999)
Review
The 'vroom-vroom' set will love the various vehicles -- all rendered in colorful, attention-grabbing detail... (Child, December/January 2000)
Review
If you know a toddler or preschooler who has a fascination for big machines, Five Trucks is sure to be a hit. (Madison Isthmus, Nov. 19, 1999)
Review
This book zeroes in on a child favorite--the airport--and shows a variety of trucks preparing a pint-size traveler's plane for takeoff. The "vroom-vroom" set will love the various vehicles--all rendered in colorful, attention-grabbing detail--and the behind-the-scenes look at how an airport works. (Child, December/January 2000)
About the Author
Brian Floca has written and illustrated one other picture book, The Frightful Story of Harry Walfish, and previously illustrated Helen Ketteman's Luck with Potatoes. For older readers he has collaborated on several books by Avi: Poppy, winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for fiction, and three other connected stories about the same woodland characters, as well as the graphic novel City of Light, City of Dark, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of they Year. A native of Texas, Brian Floca now lives in New York City.