This Is the Van That Dad Cleaned

by Lisa Campbell Ernst

A father's work is never....

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Humor, Childrens, Family, Poetry

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2005

About the author

Lisa Campbell Ernst was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1957. She received a Bachelor's degree in art from the University of Oklahoma, and then won an internship as a guest editor for Mademoiselle Magazine in New York City. She has written and illustrated over twenty picture books including Stella Louella's Runaway Book, which won the Children's Choice Award in Kansas, and Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cumulative story about all the crazy things that happen to get it dirty again after Dad cleans the van. Kids will be amused.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the pattern of "This is the house that Jack built".

We have a van that dad cleaned, a girl, a boy who teases her, a baby, a bag of fries, ketchup, a baseball mitt, a backpack, and even more.

I didn't think the action built on itself properly. I did like the ending where the kids get together and cleanup the mess.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun building book based upon the "house that jack built". Dad starts with a clean car but with a baby and two children, it quickly becomes a mess. The children all help clean up. Kids enjoyed seeing the car get messier and messier.

[Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strings together a sequence of events with repetition of phrases and, finally, a view of the consequences and cleverly altered repetition of title.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kiddos learn to say it along with you. Repetitious, but Soooo true to life.

[Megan Garrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Copyright- 2005
Number of Pages-28
Book format-hardcover, paper
Reading Level- Pre-K- 2nd; GR Level- N/A
Genre- Fiction
Lit. Requirement- Predictable or Pattern book-1

This is a silly rendition of a car ride with 3 small children. Dad cleans the van and after the car ride it becomes messy again. The story goes through everything that went wrong in the van that made it messy. The book ends with the children cleaning up the van. The book starts with something and everything builds off the one before. Each page the instances that made the van messy are repeated. I think this would be a good book for a small child because of the simple plot and repeated words. I would recommend this book for the silliness and little difficulty.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

cumulative story like This is the House that Jack built

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have yet to read this with kids -- looking forward to it.

[Haaley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot like the flow of the napping house, going back over each new addition.

The illustrations were funny.

[Christine Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Countdown to Kindergarten: Letter V.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sequential book for preschoolers where the family van keeps getting dirtier and messier.

[Katie Flegal Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Demonstrates how kids can destroy a car Ina matter of one car trip 😂. I don't love the repetition ("there was an old lady who swallowed a fly" type)

[Sara Lemonade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the girl.

This is the book that was enjoyed by the girl.

This is the dad that read aloud the book that was enjoyed by the girl.

This is the bed that was laid in by the dad that read aloud the book that was enjoyed by the girl.

This is the alarm clock that went off early next to the bed that was laid in by the dad that read aloud the book that was enjoyed by the girl.

This is a lot of passive voice being used.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our girls laughed out loud when we read this book and that's a good review to me. The narrative builds upon itself, along the lines of This is the House that Jack Built. The illustrations are humorous and almost any family with small children can relate to the mess. Fun book to read aloud!

[Dylan & Belle at LearnPlayFun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the review that I made. This is the kid that loved his mom that made the review. This is the mommy that held the iPhone which loved the boy which loved the mommy which made the review.

Oops, I forgot all about the review! Um, er, er. Hello there! I liked this book.

My favourite part was all of it, because of the way it repeated the words.

Rated and reviewed by Dylan, age 8.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good plot and text that comes around in full circle.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is told in a similar fashion to the green grass grew all around. It's a nice story but not for my story time group.

[Becky Carleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious updated version of the cumulative tale "This Is the House That Jack Built" in which Dad cleans the van and the kids destroy it with ketchup and fries and toys spilled everywhere.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute riff on the house that Jack built. My kids enjoyed it, and it showed a good example of a father fathering, rare in the genre. Illustrations made my kids giggle.