Puppy Truck, by Brian Pinkney

Puppy Truck, by Brian Pinkney

Carter wants a puppy.

But he gets a truck.

So he puts a leash on it, and away they go!

And there you have it: PUPPY TRUCK.

It’s super-simple, super-gentle—despite Puppy Truck CHASING A SQUIRREL throughout—and super-adorable. (The squirrel never looks too concerned.)

The movement in the illustrations is such that I almost feel like I look away and then look back and the characters really HAVE moved.

I love looking at the arc of Carter’s day, but even more, I love the vehicle language Pinkney uses to describe it: instead of having a bath, they have “a wash”, for supper they have “nuts and bolts”, and going to bed is described as “parking for the night”.

But let’s be entirely honest—as much as I love everything about this book and Carter and his puppy truck (and SPOILER THEIR NEW FRIENDS AT THE END OMG SO CUTE), it’s the squirrel who really has my heart. I mean. If Pinkney puts some prints of this little guy up for sale, I’ll be the first in line:

Detail of squirrel from Puppy Truck, by Brian Pinkney.