Bear Book Talk Home Storytime

From Bogey Bear
Oh what fun! Finding the ABCs in the trash - well, not something you want children to do, but that is why this is a GREAT book. Children will howl with delight as you share this book - be sure to give them a chance to react to each item you show them as you read. There is also an important story here about trash pickup and why this service is important. One of my all time favorite books.

From Amazon.com
"I stink!" How can you not love such swagger and candor? And Kate and Jim McMullan's big-eyed, loudmouthed garbage truck really must stink--by its own admission, and given all those smelly bags it's been cramming into its huge back hopper.

Most kids already love garbage trucks on general principle, and one assumes that can only go double for a sass-mouthed, animated dumper like this one, out on its early-morning rounds: "See those bags? I SMELL BREAKFAST! Crew? Get me to the curb! Lights? Blink! Brakes? Squeal! Tail gate? SAY AH!" The many opportunities for loud, large-type sound effects should make for spirited readings, and a recipe for "alphabet soup" lets young readers practice their letters, working through the ABCs from apple cores to zipped-up ziti with zucchini.

The text to I Stink!, while fun, is nowhere near as clever as the art. But fortunately Jim McMullan's fun, fat drawings and type treatments more than make up the difference, loading Dumpsters full of personality into this grimacing, grinning, growling--even burping!--big rig. Kids will have a good time doing diesel-powered imitations, but even more importantly, they'll learn where they'd be without their neighborhood trash truck: on top of "Mount Trash-o-rama, baby." (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
A rowdy, ravenous New York City garbage truck is the unlikely and thoroughly engaging narrator of this comical collaboration by the creators of Hey Pipsqueak! and Nutcracker Noel. "Know what I do at night while you're asleep?" asks the brazen vehicle, "Eat your TRASH, that's what." The perspective then shifts so that readers look outside from within the truck's tail end, as garbage bags hurl through the air and land inside its "hopper." As the truck rolls around town, ingesting garbage, he saucily asks, "Did I wake you? Too bad!"

Jim McMullan's whimsically exaggerated art humorously reflects the personality of this hero, whose windshield serves as bulging eyes and whose bumper becomes an enormous set of teeth. As the trash inside his belly gets compacted, a full spread records his loud "BURRRP!" (indicated in large red typeface that stretches across the gutter). The truck contentedly ("Ahhhhhh!") announces that he now has room for "alphabet soup," and presents a gratifyingly gross ABC of items that he devours: from "apple cores" to "dirty diapers,... fish heads,... kitty litter,... puppy poo,... ugly underpants..." and "zipped-up ziti with zucchini." He freely admits to his stench, then reminds readers, "

Go on, hold your nose, but think about it Without me? You're on Mount Trash-o-rama, baby," as only skyscraper tops (including the Chrysler Building) clear the pictured mound of refuse. After the fellow unloads his contents on a river barge (with a "PLOP!"), he heads back to the garage ("See you tomorrow night, guys"), while kids will eagerly return to the beginning of this hilarious homage to an unsung hero. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-An enthusiastic garbage truck describes the hearty joys of its daily rounds. The personified vehicle, with windows as eyes and a grille mouth, is appropriately unapologetic for the noises and smells that come with the territory. After filling up with trash ("Whoa, those bags are way compacted"), it gives a loud burp, followed by an "alphabet soup" list of items it digests, including "Dirty diapers," "Puppy poo," and "Ugly underpants."

Varied perspectives; the creative use of light; and a palette of grays, blues, greens, and yellow visually capture the rewards of garbage collecting in an appealingly gross package. The text appears in letters of assorted size, color, and boldness that aptly fit the lively directness of the narrative. The truck's brash good humor shows in its toothy grin and expressive eyes, but the human qualities do not detract from its obvious truckish essence. When it proudly admits that it stinks ("Whooooo-whee! Do I ever!"), the truck asks readers where they would be without it.

The answer appears on the following spread with a garbage-covered city. The simple, but distinctive voice of the narrating vehicle makes this a fun and funny read-aloud, especially for young truck enthusiasts.
Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4-8. "Know what I do while you're asleep?" asks a grinning truck in an opening spread, "Eat your TRASH." This boldly illustrated book celebrates the garbage truck's noise and grinding power in a brisk, lively text filled with sound effects. The truck describes its night rounds with its crew, including an amusing A to Z of garbage, from "apple cores" to "puppy poo" to "zipped-up ziti with zucchini." Finally, the vehicle dumps its load at a river barge and heads home.

The importance of its job comes through clearly: "Without me? You're on Mount Trash-o-rama, baby." But mostly this is just a loud, gleeful portrait of a big machine at work, illustrated with pictures that are just the right blend of heavy paint, dark colors, and whimsical humor to show the gritty, urban landscape and the swaggering, macho truck. For children who wonder what happens to the trash after it hits the barge, suggest Paulette Bourgeois' Garbage Collectors (1998) or Paul Showers' revised Where Does the Garbage Go? (1994). Gillian Engberg

About the Author
Kate McMullan is the author of the easy-to-read books featuring Fluffy, the Classroom Guinea Pig, and the middle-grade series Dragon Slayers’ Academy. She is also the author of the 2010 Geisel Honor Book Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day.

Jim McMullan is an internationally acclaimed illustrator and poster designer whose work can be seen in The Theater Posters Of James Mcmullan.

Kate and Jim McMullan have collaborated on many popular picture books, including I’m Big!; I’m Bad!; I’m Dirty, a Child Magazine Best Book; I’m Mighty!; and I Stink!, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book. The McMullans live in Sag Harbor, New York.

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