While at the library the other day, I happened upon a darling series of children’s books written and illustrated by David Gordon.
“The Three Little Rigs” is the story of three little rigs (amazing how that works) who live with their mother rig. She tells them that the time has come for them to go out and find their own garages. The first rig builds his garage out of wood, and then the big, bad wrecking ball comes along. Oh, no.
The second rig built his garage out of stone. Along came the wrecking ball, and there went the garage.
The third little rig built his garage out of steel beams, and welded them together. The big, bad wrecking ball couldn’t destroy his home, no matter how hard he tried.
(This book was published in 2005 by HarperCollins.)
Next is “Hansel and Diesel.” They live in a junkyard, and their father is worried about having enough gas to make it through the winter. And here’s a twist I liked – rather than the father sending them out and doing a cruel deed to them, Hansel and Diesel decide, on their own, to go and search for fuel, and leave behind them a trail of bolts. After wandering through the junkyard, they discover a wonderful gas station with bright lights. It’s owned by a wicked winch, who places warm buckets of oil in front of them and, after they’ve eaten, puts them to sleep on the lifts.
But they wake up to realize that they’re about to be shredded! “You wicked winch!” they cry out.
Back home, Hansel and Diesel’s parents come to look for them, following the path of bolts, and they all live happily ever after.
(This book was published in 2006 by HarperCollins.)
Last is “The Ugly Truckling.” Once upon a time there was a flock of brand new trucklings. Mother Truck loved them all very much. But one of the trucklings looked different from everyone else. She had narrow wheels, and she didn’t have a bed. She had two strange beams sticking out from the sides of her body. She was ugly.
Her brothers and sisters made fun of her, and one night, when they were all asleep, she decided to run away. She talked to a tractor, working in the field. He said she couldn’t possibly be a tractor; tractors don’t have propellers on their noses.
She talked to a cow, and discovered she couldn’t be a cow, no way. She also couldn’t be a windmill.
Suddenly, she looked up and saw a plane circling overhead. She recognized her own shape. She wasn’t an ugly truckling – she was a beautiful airplane! And she flew up and joined the other planes as they flew around in the sky.
(This book was published in 2004 by HarperCollins.)
I really enjoyed this new take on the old tales. Your children, boys and girls alike, will find these stories fun and refreshing.
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More Picture Books by Tim Egan