MIGHTY, MIGHTY CONSTRUCTION SITE by Sherri Dusky Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld for Perfect Picture Book Friday

A fun rhyming story loaded with construction vehicles!

Summary from the publisher:

All of our favorite trucks are back on the construction site—this time with a focus on team-building, friendship, and working together to make a big task seem small! Down in the big construction site, the crew faces their biggest job yet, and will need the help of new construction friends to get it done. Working as a team, there's nothing they can't do!

Mighty, Mighty, Construction Site was written by Sherri Dusky Rinker and illustrated by Tom Litchenheld. It was published in 2017 by Chronicle Books.

Opening:

Down in the big construction site,

five trucks wake to the morning light.

It’s time to S-T-R-E-T-C-H, roll out of bed,

and gear up for the day ahead!

My thoughts as a writer:

This story is a great one to study if you’re working on a rhyming text. The rhyme and rhythm keeps the story moving and there is a story that doesn’t bend to fit the rhyme scheme. I really liked the action-filled and detailed illustrations!

My thoughts as a teacher:

A great story for a read aloud with younger kids. It would be fun to pair this up with Susanna Leonard Hill’s THE ROAD THAT TRUCKS BUILT (see my review here). Students could compare and contrast the events and vehicles working in the two stories.

Ages: 2 - 6

Grades: Toddler  – Grade 1

Themes: construction vehicles, building, teamwork

Activities:

Discuss: What is your favorite construction vehicle in the story? What is it’s job?

Encourage students to design their own buildings using classroom materials. Draw a plan for your building. How many blocks will you need? Try to build it—or have a friend build it. How tall is your building? How could you measure it?

Learning from Picture Books – THE ROAD THAT TRUCKS BUILT by Susanna Leonard Hill & Erica Sirotich

This is a really fun rhyming story from young children! I won this book in the summer in an online contest sponsored by Vivian Kirkfield (check out her blog for great reviews of picture books). I could hardly wait for school to start to introduce it to my class!

Summary from the publisher:

Join the ride as a team of adorable vehicles work together to build a new road in this fresh, cement-mixing spin on the classic nursery rhyme, “The House That Jack Built.”

Bulldozers, scrapers, graders, and more are hard at work making sure that every car, truck, and motorcycle can get where they’re going fast!

The Road That Trucks Built was written by Susanna Leonard Hill and illustrated by Erica Sirotich. It was published in 2017 by Little Simon.

Opening:

This is the traffic that’s moving too slow.

Cars and buses have nowhere to go.

What is the answer?

I’m guessing you know.

The trucks need to build a new road!

My Thoughts as a Writer:

This is a nice example of how to create a rhyming story. The problem of the story is clear from the beginning. The fun, bouncy rhymes keep our attention through the story – as do the big, bright illustrations of different trucks. Most of the lines in the story flow easily during a read aloud. The choice to use the format of “The House That Jack Built” works well.

My Thoughts as a Teacher:

This is a really fun rhyming story for young children! The idea that every truck has its part to play in the construction can be used to help explain the concept of teamwork. The labeled diagrams at the back are good examples of how to label as well as providing information about the parts of trucks.

Ages: 3 - 7

Grades: preK - 1

Themes: trucks, construction, teamwork

Activities:

Provide pictures of the different trucks in the story to use when telling the story.

Create a road building centre with props for children to explore during play.

With Lego or other snap-together blocks, encourage children to build different kinds of trucks and talk about the parts they need for their jobs.