Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.Ī sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘ Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘ THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both! Next to a final headshot of the pair (dog and adult deer almost exactly the same size) the narrative properly notes that Pippin is a wild animal “but she and Kate remain the best of friends.” Nonetheless, the two plainly enjoy each other’s company, and the pictures underscore their closeness at rest or play. At one point, she wanders into the nearby woods (“Kate and Isobel worried they might never see Pippin again”) and back, but grave and grizzled Kate seldom seems to move, aside from a couple of gambols in the grass, or even summon up the energy to open her eyes all the way. APippin learns to negotiate a milk-bottle nipple and later a set of porch steps and frisks alertly about the photographer’s yard.

The true story, captured in intimate photos, of an old Great Dane and an abandoned fawn.

Kate & Pippin by Martin Springett