Diggers

Roadworks by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock

Small boys all seem to go through similar phases of interest:
cars, diggers, trains, dinosaurs, etc., at similar ages.
It seems much better to go with the flow, staying 'on topic' while introducing books that expand their vocabulary (beyond the name of every kind of machine known to man) and spark their imagination.

The catch is, finding good books to do just that.

It's easy to find poor books using the digger theme: ones that have no integral story and are simply a grab bag of different kinds of machines; ones that start off as a digger book, and then veer into other random areas (colours, textures, shapes, etc); and even ones that use gimmicks (sounds, shapes, wheels, etc) to attract attention.
But none of these offer anything to engage a child's interest in the longer term.

Among all the dross, Sally Sutton's masterpiece stands head and shoulders above the rest, and is a firm favourite with every small boy of my acquaintance.

Using short phrases and sentences (complete with noisy exclamations - my favourite is "Squelch! Spluck! Splat!") it tells the story of the machines used to construct a road, from the first cut, to the final opening. The regular rhythm and rhyme is vibrantly poetic, and explains why so many children quickly memorize this book.

Load the dirt. Load the dirt.
Scoop and swing and drop.
Slam it down into the truck.
Bump!
Whump!
Whop!

Within the first few readings, Mitchell was already joining in to read the story along with me. I'd often start off with the first sentence, and then let him finish the page on his own.

After a few readings I've overheard him and other children playing quietly with diggers, repeating the story to themselves as they work on their own construction sites.

The large clear illustrations, prominently feature the machines doing the work - the workers are mostly small, relatively unimportant figures, set against the size and scale of the machines and their road-building project. Even when the workers break for lunch, they are dwarfed by the huge wheel of the road roller beside them. Each illustration exactly reflects the story being told on that page - a great source of satisfaction to literal-minded pre-schoolers. And the final page includes a pictorial glossary of all the machines and a short description of what they do.

Virtually all children will have seen roadworks going on around them (certainly you can't miss them in Auckland, where it seems that roads are being dug up on a continual basis), so they have lots of context to bring to the story, and will take a new appreciation of why the machines are working, away with them.

Highly recommended as an excellent read-aloud for big groups of children. The large bold text, makes it easy for adults to read, the story is attractive and memorable, and the primary colours used in the illustrations make it easy for the kids in the back row to see clearly. Be warned, it's not a quiet circle-time book, this is loud and brash, and the pre-schoolers will enthusiastically join in with the exclamations. Be prepared to re-read frequently, as it will become a firm favourite.

Roadworks was awarded Best Picture Book in the 2009 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and translated into Maori as Mahiara.