The other trucks are intimidating (but not bad guys) but Troto (is plucky and) wins the race! You know, a truck story. ( )

I did not like this book for a few reasons. The illustrations didn’t add much to the story, besides setting, and in a picture book the illustrations need to support the plot. For example, there are two pages dedicated to pictures of the cars driving in two different dessert settings. This does not add to the races plot or even make it exciting. The illustrations don’t make you feel like the cars are racing quickly through the desert sand. I also felt the writing in the book lacked fluency. For example “I might win this race! And he did.” These sentences don’t even set the appropriate tone of excitement that should go with winning a race. The big idea in this story is that size doesn’t matter, everyone has their own special talents. ( )