"Driving my tractor down a bumpy road / And in my trailer, there's a heavy load." Sure to connect with young preschoolers, this rhyming picture book, illustrated with detailed double-page spreads in bright, clear mixed-media artwork, folds a counting exercise into its story of a farmer who picks up a succession of animals in his tractor. First, he adds one black-and-white cow ("moo, moo, moo"), then two grey donkeys ("eeyore, eeyore"), and so on. After the truck's wheel hits a stone, though, the animals fall out and run away, and the farmer chugs home alone. Along with the story's repetition, action, noises, numbers, and colors, kids will also enjoy the surprise at the story's end when the farmer returns to his barn: "What do I see? / All the animals waiting for me!" The final spreads add more to talk about, with pictures and brief notes about crops and typical farm machines, from trailers to milk trucks. Also included is a CD of the text played as a song and musical notation for joining in. A fun celebration of daily work.

PreS-K A farmer drives his tractor down a bumpy road through various seasons, gradually loading one cow, two donkeys, three pigs, four sheep, and five chickens onto his trailer. When his filled vehicle hits a stone, the grinning load shakes loose and all escape. By the time the farmer arrives home, he is greeted by all the critters. This tale is ideal for storytime with its rhyming text, fun sounds, and refrain, "Chug, chug, clank, clank, toot! It's a very busy day." This is a jolly read-aloud, and the accompanying CD with a jazzy version adds to the charm, with both an instrumental track and SteveSongs (of PBS fame) singing the text. In addition to a page of the music, the book's extras include a spread of farm vehicles with brief descriptions of their purposes and another of a dozen different types of crops, explaining when they're grown. Dobbins's text, with its bounty of information and fun, is well matched with Sim's cartoonlike, folk art illustrations in acrylics and pastels. Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA