Sunday, 19 June 2011

Picture book review : My Big Truck Board Book (Priddy Books)


Well, yesterday I reviewed (here) the fabulous Smart Kids Animal A-Z book from Priddy Books and now I'm back with another of their offerings, the huge colourful board book called My Big Truck Book. Chief tester of the day is therefore 2-year-old Pierre.

As it's a board book, this is obviously designed for very young readers but the pages are much bigger (275mm x 275mm ) and the book is much heavier than most of Pierre's other board books. I wasn't sure how he would get on with the size of the book but, as you can see in the pictures below, it didn't cause the slightest problem - instead of sitting down with the book on his lap as he usually would, he took it to a chair and read it standing up. How's that for genius ?!


My Big Truck Book shows you pretty much every kind of truck you could possibly think of, and much more besides. Even as a grown up, I never realised just how many different types of tractor there are ! Pierre has been looking at it non-stop since it arrived and I've noticed that, unlike many books where he just flips through the pages without really even looking at them, he spends several moments on each page really looking at the pictures.


I think this is partly because he recognises some of the vehicles he has in his Vroom Planet garage but also because the book is absolutely packed with big, bright, colourful photos. Below each photo is the name of the type of truck and at the bottom of each page there is one simple question to make your little learners really look at the pages and think about what they are seeing.


The only thing that may possibly annoy some people is that all of the vehicles in the photographs are American so British youngsters may not recognise the fire trucks, school buses and post vans that they see in real life. This certainly didn't seem to bother Pierre though and, as kids get older, could even be seen as a plus point as it will widen their knowledge and show them parts of a country and culture they may be unfamiliar with.

Once again, I was impressed with the low price for a really high quality book. The hardback cover is sturdy and withstands a lot of rough handling and they've even thought to make the corners rounded to avoid injury when your little reader inevitably bashes himself in the face when turning the pages !

There is a gold badge on the front of the book, proudly announcing that over 1 million copies have been sold since the original publication. It only contains ten pages but as they are so big, there is a lot packed on each page so it's a book that Pierre comes back to over and over again.

Yet again, I was impressed with the low price (£6.99) for such a high-quality book.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £6.99


Other reviews you may be interested in :


4 comments:

  1. Looks like a colourful learning book suprised they didn't add a really fun element like pop up trucks with moveable parts

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  2. looks great, my wee boy loves any vehicles just now so would be perfect for him!

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  3. The pop-up books and flap books we have are getting ripped at the moment so I think maybe a "plain" book is better for really young readers, until they learn to handle books with a bit more care ! Great idea though.

    After two girls, I'm amazed at how fascinated Pierre is by cars and trucks !!

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  4. My son Oliver loves cars and trucks, he is only 16 months but as soon as he spots a car he shouts out "car, car!", he would love this!

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