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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Perfect Picture Book Friday


My son loves this picture book about construction trucks preparing for bedtime.  

Title: Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site

Author: Sherri Duskey Rinker

Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2011

Fiction or non-Fiction: Fiction

Audience age: Preschool

Theme: Bedtime

Opening page:
"Down in the big construction site,
The tough trucks work with all their might
To build a building, make a road,
To get the job done – load by load!"

Synopsis:  Construction machines finish working for the day and prepare to go to sleep.

Resources:  Sherri Duskey Rinker's web site has downloads that expand on the book, including a coloring book, connect the dot printable, memory game, teacher’s classroom activity guide, bookmarks, and stickers.

Why I like this book:
This book is one that I wish I had written. It is such a creative concept -- who would've thought to write about construction vehicles going to sleep? In addition, Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site is a joy to read aloud because of its rhythm, rhyme, and flow. The tone is soothing, perfect for lulling a child to sleep.  The repetition of, "Shhh...good night [insert truck name], good night" is fun to say and my just turned 2-year old son often joins in (at least for the "shh" part).


The illustrations are awesome -- each truck has such an expressive face based on its own specific truck features and Tom Lichtenheld cleverly depicts the trucks sleeping with children's loveys to further humanize them.


Adults also will get something out of this book. I usually can't tell one construction vehicle from another (I only know what a Bobcat is because we see them around the neighborhood and my daughter thinks it's funny that they are named after an animal), but I was entertained by the story and am proud to have learned what the different trucks and their parts are called.


However, in my eyes, the VERY BEST part of the book is that it is from a debut author whose manuscript was pulled from the slush pile!  So, dreams do come true!

For more Picture Perfect Books please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog.

23 comments:

  1. Susanna will be thrilled as this is another fantastic picture book for boys! I love Lichtenheld's work, but thank you so much for letting us know this was the author's first book. Wonderful!

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  2. Right from the slush pile? Wonderful! I'm with you - I wouldn't have thought of this either...which is a lesson for us newbie PB writers to look for the possibilities in EVERYTHING. I have a couple of two-year-old boys, too, Margaret - is yours as car-crazy as mine? :)

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    1. Mine LOVES cars. The only thing he loves more than cars is trains! It's choo-choo everything! Isn't it funny how boys and girls are so different? I always thought that girls liking girl things and boys liking boy things were a factor of conditioning, but now that I have one of each, I'm pretty convinced that their brains are work differently.

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    2. Please keep an eye out for my next book (which Tom Lichtenheld will also illustrate), titled, "Steam Train, Dream Train." It's due out next year!

      (PS: It sounds like our boys think alike!)

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  3. This is a fabulous choice. My son and daughter loves it.

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  4. I read this book week before last. I, too, thought it was a very creative concept. I didn't know it was from the slush pile. Yea...Inspiration!

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    1. Definitely inspirational. Amazing that this book came out of the slush pile, it is sitting on the NY Times Bestsellers list, and the author is working on another book with Chronicle Books! Sounds like a dream come true to me!

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  5. Great choice of books. I love this one. You have no idea how close I came to reviewing it, but since there were so many truck books last week, I decided not to. Glad you got to it first. Great review!

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  6. Thanks for sharing will have to check it out. I do like Lichtenheld's work.
    Encouraging to know it was from a debut author.

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  7. Dear Margaret,

    Thank you so much for your extremely nice review of my book - I'm so honored!

    And, best wishes in your writing career!

    Warmly,
    Sherri Duskey Rinker
    Author, Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

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    1. Wow! Thanks Sherri, for visiting my blog! I am a huge fan of your book and am looking forward to your next one. Judging by the title, it sounds like it will be perfect for my son!

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  8. Wow! What a wonderful little book. And what a bright idea for a book. I will buy this asap. We have six boys and one girl. *ahem* Thank you for choosing this one. Ingenious! :-)

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  9. What a sweet book, love the rhyming and to think it came out of a slush pile.... yay hope for us yet! So glad I came now to comment, as it is so lovely to see an author appreciate the shout out....very nice.

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  10. This is definitely one I need to get for my 3 year old grandson..who of course loves trucks! And who of course, doesn't love going to bed. :)
    Thank you, Margaret...what a great choice!

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  11. Hi Margaret, I just popped back to let you know I have awarded you the liebster blog Award.... congratulations, pop over to my blog to pick it up.

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  12. This one sounds adorable. Yay the slushpile.

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  13. I really do love this one. Such a wonderful, simple concept and it's done brilliantly.

    sf

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  14. We enjoy rhyming books. This sounds like a good book for his age.

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  15. This looks like a great boy-ish picture book! The illustration on the cover looks nice. Thanks for telling us about it!

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  16. I was going down my google reader list and read this
    http://www.chroniclebooks.com/blog/2012/02/03/interview-with-1-new-york-times-bestselling-author-sherri-duskey-rinker/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChronicleBooksBlog+%28Chronicle+Books+Blog%29 just before coming to your site! This book sounds like a fun read.

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    1. Thanks for sharing the article. I saw that they are running a contest to win a signed copy of the book in case anyone is interested!

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  17. I read this book last fall - a perfect choice for little readers who love big equipment :) I have some of those in my house :) I just read an interview with Sherri on Jennifer Young's blog - you should all go check it out! And it is awesome that this was pulled from the slush. Thanks for the great pick, Margaret!

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  18. This looks perfect for my son! We have so many digger/car books and he never, ever gets bored of them! Great choice.

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