Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

When an ice cream truck breaks down, a truck traffic jam ensues: the perfect attraction for the vehicle-obsessed in this captivating counting book. From cement mixer to garbage truck, the trucks pile up--and so does the crowd--as a young bicyclist names and numbers the vehicles in rhyming text. "I start to count each truck I see. / First 1, then 2, and now there are 3." The use of numerals in the text encourages number recognition and creates a matching game, while spelled numbers are used when appropriate. The yellow-helmeted boy weaves through the action until the solution is clear: the crane truck! His idea saves the day, and with traffic flowing once more, all ends on a deliciously sweet note. Digital illustrations done in a muted pastel palette present an amiable city block as Cyrus takes readers on a cinematic tour of the locale. His strength is in how he uses the boy's point of view to expand readers' understanding of the environment, allowing both character and readers to find an answer to the problem. Various perspectives capture the imagination, but the trucks are the real stars of the show. Truck-lovers will beg for repeat reads, with little ones "reading along" from memory. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

When an ice cream truck breaks down, a truck traffic jam ensues: the perfect attraction for the vehicle-obsessed in this captivating counting book. From cement mixer to garbage truck, the trucks pile up--and so does the crowd--as a young bicyclist names and numbers the vehicles in rhyming text. "I start to count each truck I see. / First 1, then 2, and now there are 3." The use of numerals in the text encourages number recognition and creates a matching game, while spelled numbers are used when appropriate. The yellow-helmeted boy weaves through the action until the solution is clear: the crane truck! His idea saves the day, and with traffic flowing once more, all ends on a deliciously sweet note. Digital illustrations done in a muted pastel palette present an amiable city block as Cyrus takes readers on a cinematic tour of the locale. His strength is in how he uses the boy's point of view to expand readers' understanding of the environment, allowing both character and readers to find an answer to the problem. Various perspectives capture the imagination, but the trucks are the real stars of the show. Truck-lovers will beg for repeat reads, with little ones "reading along" from memory. (Picture book. 3-5)

Horn Book

In a lively multitasking picture book, a young boy tells what happens when an ice-cream truck breaks down, blocking his street. A mail truck shows up and wants to get by, soon followed by a parade of others. The rhyming text provides commentary for sorting out the entertaining traffic jam in the double-page spreads done in bright digital art.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2 This counting book presents a traffic tie-up of the proportion that will delight young children, especially those with a passion for trucks. A broken-down ice-cream truck is all it takes to bring the action to a standstill. Each page features one type of vehicle in all its glory, and there's even an aerial view that shows the entire neighborhood immobilized by the jam. Bold digital illustrations are crisp and sufficiently detailed to please those who have already acquired some knowledge of the topic. The use of concentrated color and minimal white space will also appeal to young listeners, who will identify with the young hero who gets everyone out of the mess. His idea is to use the crane to lift all the other vehicles and send them on their way. Of course, the disabled ice-cream truck will have to remain-a perfect reward. Counting books in verse are plentiful, but this one stands out. The words roll off the tongue, a good thing, as children will demand to hear it again and again. Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

An ice cream truck breaking down in -the middle of our street- is a dream come true for many a kid-not to mention the ensuing traffic jam that strands 20 trucks of every shape and purpose. But one boy has something bigger in mind than licking a cone or being a spectator: he wants to solve the problem. That takes some persistence, but he eventually wins over the crowd with a solution that-s literally right in front of them. Adult author Lee, making his children-s debut, seems a bit stuck himself, delineating the mostly easy-to-recognize vehicles (-A pickup truck is number 4/ A crane truck makes 5./ And here come more!-) rather than amplifying the mood so vividly established in Cyrus-s (The Voyage of Turtle Rex) generously scaled and cinematically composed street scenes. It-s his portrayal of the trucks as solid machines momentarily sidelined from their essential duties, along with the evocation of a neighborhood brought together by a benign -Didja ever...- moment, that makes the book feel inspired. It almost doesn-t need words at all. Ages 3-5. Illustrator-s agent: Michael Stearns, Upstart Crow Literary. (June)

ALA Booklist

The truck picture-book genre ratchets up a notch with the glorious depiction of, count 'em, 20 tantalizingly colored and deliciously varied trucks, jammed on the narrow, twisting streets of a city neighborhood. A helmet-clad young bicyclist takes it all in as an ice-cream truck stalls and the 19 others are caught behind it. The majority are delivery trucks carrying a pleasingly odd assortment of cargo, but there is also a double-page-filling crane, a cement mixer, and plenty of others to provide a satisfying diversity. The bright colors of the trucks and the way their towering forms dominate the pages heighten the book's giddy appeal. Not just a counting book, the rhyming text artfully tells a story, which climaxes when the clever young observer suggests a nifty way to get the trucks rolling again: "The crane lifts the ice-cream truck up slow. / Now all the other trucks can go!" Good for storytimes and one-on-one sharing, this should delight even the most jaded of truck-book aficionados.