The Old Truck
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the Pumphrey brothers' debut, an old truck's maturation mirrors a brown-skinned girl's growth into adulthood. "On a small farm, an old truck worked hard," the narrative begins as illustrations reveal the family's corresponding exertion, loading bushel baskets filled with veggies into the truck's bed. As "the old truck rested," weeds slowly covering its wheels, then its body, it also serves as a vehicle for the child's imagination ("The old truck sailed the seas,/ braved the skies,/ and chased the stars"). As the young woman matures, she finishes rebuilding a tractor she began working on with her father, becomes "a new farmer," and employs the tractor in towing the truck, then restoring it. The narrative comes full circle as the old truck, now repainted and running, works hard once again alongside the farmer and her own daughter. The illustrations, created from more than 250 stamps, resonate in spare compositions and mellow earth tones. A celebration of diligence and grit, the quiet text conjures a cyclical Giving Tree reminiscent relationship, but with a healthier, deeply loving dynamic. Ages 3 5.
