Review & Giveaway: Little Excavator by Anna Dewdney

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 6th, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from publisher:

What could possibly be as appealing as Anna Dewdney's llamas? Anna Dewdney's trucks!

The Big Rigs are working hard at the construction site when Little Excavator rolls up, eager to help. But Little Excavator isn't big enough to CHUG CHUG CHUG! like the Dump Truck as it loads dirt to lug or MOUND MOUND MOUND! like the 'Dozer as it pushes up the ground. Little Excavator wants to smooth out bumps and dig up dirt, but he is just too small. As Big Rigs around him WORK WORK WORK! they finally find a job that no other machine can do...except for Little Excavator!

My Thoughts:

For almost as long as I've been teaching toddlers, Dewdney's Llama Llama books have been popular in my classrooms. Trucks are always popular too so being offered this truck book by the late Ms. Dewdney was a fantastic opportunity.

My class of one and two year olds has enjoyed this book, especially the two year olds. Several of the boys get excited when they see the cover and request that I read it first. The children enjoy the rhythmic text, they chant along with me as I read, and they like the cheerful illustrations which accompany the text. The facial expressions on the trucks aren't as expressive as in the Llama Llama books but they still convey Little E's determination and frustration, and the patience of the big rigs. The children relate to Little E's desire to work alongside the big trucks and be useful. They get excited when we get to the part of the story where the big rigs are stuck and they cheer on Little Excavator as he helps. Some of the older children have even been acting out the story with our toy trucks.While my one year olds like it, the story works best for children two years and older. Be sure to add this one to your shelf at home or school.

About the author ~

Anna Dewdney was a teacher, mother, and enthusiastic proponent of reading aloud to children. She continually honed her skills as an artist and writer and published her first Llama Llama book in 2005. Her passion for creating extended to home and garden and she lovingly restored an 18th century farmhouse in southern Vermont. She wrote, painted, gardened, and lived there with her partner, Reed, her two daughters, two wire-haired pointing griffons, and one bulldog. Anna passed away in 2016, but her spirit will live on in her books.

Enter for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of Little Excavator by Anna Dewdney (ARV: $19.99 each).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on May 22, 2017 and 12:00 AM on June 19, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about June 30, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

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