The Wheels on the Truck

This variation on a popular song is sung by the Topp Twins on the accompanying CD and the bright and expressive pictures are illustrated by Jenny Cooper. It is the eighth collaboration between Lynda and Jools Topp and Jenny Cooper, in which they have embedded a popular traditional song firmly within the Kiwi context. Instead of a bus, the vehicle is a truck (the ubiquitous ute) and instead of travelling “through the town” it is “heading to the beach”.

The twins have put themselves in the song and they are the only people mentioned, which I think is a bit of a shame because the babies on the bus, who “go wah, wah, wah” are very popular with the children I know.

Despite the lack of babies, this book will definitely appeal to country kids. The dogs on the back of the ute are such a common sight on farms and the sunny weather (no windscreen wipers here) and the barbecue at the beach at the end are intrinsically kiwi.

Title: The Wheels on the Truck

Sung by: The Topp Twins

Illustrator: Jenny Cooper

Publisher: Scholastic

ISBN: 978-1-77543-640-9

RRP: $21.99

Format: picture book with CD

Publication: October 2020

Age Range: Picturebook

Advisory warnings: No

Reviewer: Carola Crawford, English teacher, Karanga Mai Young Parents’ College, Kaiapoi

How are you recommending this book? Recommended

Opening sentence: The wheels on the truck go round and round, round and round, round and round.

You can buy this book here