Mighty Truck

March 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-Clarence is an ordinary, dusty four-wheeler, until a truck wash during a lightning storm transforms him into an extraordinary, "really, wheely powerful" superhero. No one recognizes this glistening, "shiny-clean stranger" who comes to the aid of those in need. With a turbo-charged push, he gets his friend Bruno out of a mud jam. He revs his engine and rescues a kitten stuck in a tree, and he even scales tall buildings with his inflated tires and saves the town from impending doom by welding a falling steel girder with his headlight laser beams. Back down on the ground, covered in dirt again, Clarence doesn't reveal his alter ego, content in knowing that transformation is "only a wash away." Cummings's bright cartoons are full of energy and excitement, and the monster vehicle's emotions are written all over his windshield. VERDICT Here's hoping there are more adventures to come for this Mighty Truck champion.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2016
An adventure-loving truck discovers an alter ego when his boss demands a trip through the car wash. Clarence is an old-fashioned-looking pickup truck with wooden rails, but his most obvious characteristic is that he's filthy. Even an imminent thunderstorm won't clean him off, but a lightning strike may have something to do with his transformation--when he drives away, he is gleaming, feeling "really wheely powerful," and unrecognizable to his co-workers. Indeed, the shiny red monster truck with "MT" emblazoned on the side and huge tires is a far cry from the dirty pickup of the beginning. But truck lovers won't care, as underdog Clarence proceeds to rescue truck-friend Bruno from the mud, a cat from a tree, and a line of traffic from a beam teetering on a high-rise under construction, each daring superhero feat cementing his new identity as Mighty Truck. By the end, he's dirty again, but he won't share his secret--who wants to miss all the fun that comes with getting dirty when getting clean is "only a wash away"? Cummings' Photoshop illustrations emphasize textures: dirt in all its forms--the dirt covering the trucks, the dirt in the tire treads, mud--the sheen of windows and chrome, the roughness of asphalt. Readers may remark on the unfairness of Clarence's having to wash when Bruno is just as dirty, though. Truck enthusiasts will wheely groove on this story of a truck Superman. (Picture book. 4-8)

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July 1, 2016
After he stops at a car wash to get clean, truck Clarence is transformed into Mighty Truck and performs acts of superpowered heroism. This book will thrill the truck- and superhero-besotted; what's more, with its secret-identity twist--Clarence's boss doesn't recognize him as Mighty Truck--it's ripe for a sequel. Cummings infuses his sleek, chunky digital illustrations with an improbable amount of heart.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
Clarence, the superheroic picture-book truck, returns in these charming early readers. Clarence makes short work of his farm chores by secretly transforming himself into a super vehicle (Farm); he teaches news chopper Stella when to use her outdoor and indoor voices (Traffic); and he babysits for energetic truck-tots (Zip). Cummings's signature chunk-tastic art is, yes, super.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)