Product Description

Look out! There's a sleepy, creepy, deeper-than-you'd-think mud puddle on the preschool playground, and it has swallowed up a pizza van, a fire engine . . . even a tow truck! But don't worry, this group of clever preschoolers knows just how to rescue them!
The talented duo who brought readers the popular Counting Crocodiles and The House That Drac Built have created an irresistible playground adventure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #174374 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"Once there was a mud puddle," writes Sierra (Antarctic Antics), "and it was sleepy, it was creepy, it was deeper-than-you'd-think. When something went into that mud puddle, the mud puddle didn't want to let go." Hillenbrand (previously paired with Sierra for Counting Crocodiles) portrays the maniacal mud puddle as a grubby Jabba the Hut. Five different vehicles become stuck in the muck, but fear not: the artwork's comical pacing and perspective reveal the vehicles to be toys, and a nearby brave band of animal preschoolers comes to the rescue, outfitted in rain slickers and carrying "shovels and sand, and rocks and bricks, and rubber bands and Popsicle sticks." Gradually, the rain lets up and the sun pokes out. The soft prettiness of Hillenbrand's full-bleed watercolor-and-ink illustrations provides a soothing counterpoint to the menacing mud puddle and to the action's comic frenzy. Youngsters will instantly recognize their own voices, experiences and indefatigable energy in Sierra's narrative. What's more, they should also find the conclusion deeply satisfying: in a feast of unbridled mud-food making, the heroic preschoolers completely consume the rogue puddle. Ages 3-7.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreS-K-What a wonderful noisy book this is. Outside of the school is a huge, deep, and hungry mud puddle. Along comes the pizza van, "Beep, beep," and "Slurp"-the truck is stuck. The police car, the tow truck, the backhoe, and finally the fire engine come as rescuers but each one is swallowed up by the growing menace. Out of the school come the preschoolers carrying their shovels and pails and dressed in boots and rain gear. They attack the puddle as only preschoolers can, using up all of the mud and freeing the vehicles. They don't stop until the villain disappears. The cars beep and grind and roar and whistle and howl. The mud puddle slurps and glurps. Readers can virtually hear the trumpets shout as the preschoolers tear out of the school and joyfully set to work. The repetition and rhyme carry the story along and the fun doesn't stop until the book is closed. The artwork is perfect. The pizza truck dances along, bouncing confidently through the rain. The mud puddle lies in wait with a big, ugly, menacing face. Even the font shouts when it should. The animal characters are gleeful. And that just might be a sleeping mud puddle face under the wheelbarrow, waiting for the next rain. Make lots of sounds and have everyone join in the fun-children will love this one.-Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 3-5. When a pizza van gets stuck in a "sleepy, creepy, deeper-than-you'd-think" mud puddle, a police car, tow truck, backhoe, and fire engine attempt to rescue it, only to get stuck ("Glurp . . . blurb") in the mud too. A cadre of animal preschoolers, clad in brightly colored rain gear, then kicks into action, saving the hapless vehicles with "shovels and sand, and rocks and bricks, and rubber bands and Popsicle sticks." In an interesting twist on perspective, close-up views of the cars and trucks suggest that they are real machines in trouble. But, early on, the careful observer will notice (and later on, everyone will realize) that the mud has claimed toy vehicles. The oft-forced internal rhyme, busy colors, and personified mud puddle are distracting elements in an otherwise jaunty cumulative tale; mud and trucks are eminently appealing preschool topics. Amy Brandt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

My 2 year old's favorite book
My 28 month old son absolutely loves this book. After reading it a half a dozen times in one day, he'll ask to read it "one more time". And if you don't read it to him, he will turn page by page and tell the story aloud, well his version anyway, which is pretty close to the book itself. Although he knows the story, and the ending, he will sit still with anticipation until the very end of the book, which is a nearly impossible task for a 2 year old. He loves the repetition of his favorite vehicles in the book, and no matter how many times he hears it, he giggles with delight at the in depth description of the "sleepy, creepy, deeper-than-you'd-think mud puddle". This book is an absolute must for any little boy who likes trucks & cars & puddles, and what little boy doesn't?

An excellent book for a bedtime story
This is a simple, enjoyable story involving toy cars, a cute villain, mud pies, and preschool children as the heroes--ideal for reading to a preschooler!

The writing is simple, lyrical, and easy to remember. After only a few reads, our two-year-old knew the story well enough to act it out with her toys. The plot teaches that things that might seem a little scary can be overcome, and that with teamwork, anything is possible.

My 4 year old girls love this "boys" book
My 4 year old twin girls love this book. They both want to read it again and again. They know it by heart and they still want to read it.