Scooper and Dumper
written and illustrated by Lindsay Ward
Two Lions Press, 2021, 40 pages
Winter's here and that means lots of snow. Good thing best friends Scooper and Dumper are on the job: "Clear the road,/ Salt the street,/ Work together,/ Can't be beat!" Yellow Scooper uses her front loader to scoop up lots of salt and fill up blue Dumper's bed with it. Then while Scooper stays where she is to load more trucks with salt, Dumper travels along the roads, using his front plow to clear the snow in front of home and then salting the roads behind him from his back bed to help keep the snow from accumulating again.
But when the snows starts to fall even harder, cars and trucks in the big nearby city are brought to a halt. When the city has run out of salt, can their country friends Scooper and Dumper help out and get traffic moving again?.
Scooper loads up Dumper with more salt and sends him on his way. But after helping to get traffic moving again, when Dumper starts back to the country, the icy roads and thick snow drifts make driving hard. Next thing he knows, Dumper is on his side in a snowbank. Can Scooper find the courage and confidence she needs to leave the salt yard to find and help out her missing best friend?
Scooper and Dumper is a story that is sure to please young readers and especially young truck lovers. And why not? It stars trucks, their favorite kind of vehicles, it's loaded with excitement and nail-biting action, and it is about how two best friends can be there for each other.
The story is told in four short stanza rhymes using an ABCB rhyme scheme which basically works all the way through the end of the book. The repetition of "Clear the road,/ Salt the street,/ Work together,/ Can't be beat!" emphasizes the idea of courage, friendship and working together to accomplish a goal. And no doubt, your young readers will be chanting these four lines before you know it.
Whether your town is blanketed in snow and waiting for your scooper and dumper to clear the roads or not, this is a book that is sure to be a kid-pleaser.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was gratefully received from Barbara Fisch at BlueSlipMedia
Lindsay Ward is the creator of the Dexter T. Rex series, as well as Rosie: Stronger than Steel, This Book is Gray, Brobarians, Rosco vs. the Baby and The Importance of Being 3. Her book Please Bring Balloons was also made into a play. Lindsay lives with her family in Peninsula, Ohio, where vehicles such as Scooper and Dumper take care of the roads all year-round. Learn more about her online at www.lindsaymward.com and on Twitter @lindsaymward
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