Chuck's Truck

by Peggy Perry Anderson

Old Blue is Chuck’s truck. When Chuck gets ready to go to town, his barnyard friends gather around. Into the truck climb the duck Luck, dogs Nip and Tuck, the burro Buck, workhorse Huck, the chicken that goes “cluck,” Sue and Lou, and the goat Flo, too. So come along, jump in Old Blue—there’s still some room just for you!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Animals, Transport, Trucks, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2006

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neo took the helm with this book, all about Farmer Chuck and his gosh darn truck (Old Blue). This rhyming piece talked of Chuck and all the animals that wanted to ride to town in his sturdy truck. However, with all that extra weight, by the time they made it, Old Blue was on her last legs. Distraught, Chuck is unsure what to do and the animals rush to prepare a surprise for him. What follows is a fun ending that kept Neo laughing until the final words. A great chance for Neo to show off his skills and rhyme at the same time!

[Lanica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the art, which was sort of impressionistic, but the words were...clunky and the rhymes forced. If you're looking for a book with a lot of animals and pretty art but don't care about the writing, this is a pretty good book; however, I don't think I could handle reading this aloud to my kids more than once or twice. There are plenty of books I would rather buy.

PLOT: A farmer wants to drive his old truck to town, but all the animals on his farm get in, one at a time ("The duck Luck rides in the truck with Chuck."), until the truck breaks down. While Chuck is sad about his truck the animals call in a repairman and help to make it as good as new...no really, the last page has a shiny new truck in place of the old beater that he started with.

Silly, forced and ridiculous.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of the picture book "Sheep in a Jeep", what with the animals piling in, the truck breaking down, and the repetitous rhyme. Enjoyable, and encourages kids to repeat the text and commit consonent sounds to memory. The bright, colorful, and bold oil pastels are somewhat unique in the overt way they are used. It very much reminds me of the artwork my (artist) mother did (once we were asleep!) with crayons in my coloring books.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're working on rhyming words with a child or group of children, this is a good one to use. The storyline is simple, Chuck is a farmer driving his truck to town and he keeps picking up passengers (animals) as he goes. The truck breaks down, Chuck is sad. The animals get a repairman to make the truck like new and they surprise Chuck and all is well.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/200...

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book! Maybe it's because my 2 year old nephew loves trucks so much. :) Very cute story regardless. Lots of -ck sounds and rhyme.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My two year old LOVES this book. And he can say "chuck's truck" and he likes to point out chuck in each picture. Fun story of how so many people want to ride with Chuck to town the car breaks down!

[Inara · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Inara's Mom: Lots of great rhymes.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

quite a difficult read aloud with all of the rhyimg words need to watch out for saying "f"

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it when books for early readers (like this one) are happy, cheerful, and carefree. Very much like children of early reader age -- provided that you can catch them when they're not crying, screaming, or freshly scolded.

Chuck, the truck owner in this picture book, is clearly going to help with that. When we first meet him, he's carrying a large bucket of eggs. Yet, fragile though eggs reportedly are, Chuck's practically dancing his way across the field, with a hoe slung over one shoulder, plus he's whistling. Definitely, this guy qualifies as happy, cheerful, and carefree.

Altogether, this is a country idyll, with friendly farm animals included, and just one animal of each type. No Noah's Ark complications here!

IN CONCLUSION

How easy is it to write and illustrate such an apparently simple book? Not easy at all. Applause for what Peggy Perry Anderson has accomplished here: applause plus FIVE STARS.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun easy reader with a quick flow of words in the text. Farmer Chuck has a beat up truck and after all the animals hop into the truck, well it is old and breaks down. Will it get fixed? Illustrations are vivid and appear to have perhaps been done with a type of charcoal crayon as one can see the shading. Book was first published in 2006 and now as an easy reader.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rhyming easy reader in which Chuck is taking his truck into town and all the farm animals hop on board. By the time the group gets to town, Chuck's truck breaks down. A simple story that is great for beginning readers grades grades K-2.

[Kary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oklahoma author, and I noticed that the town this story takes place in is Vinita (it was on a sign in the illustrations). I'm going to have to do an Oklahoma author display and include this one.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

simply story with lots of rhyming word play.

[Danette · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/20/21 Julia read to me

[Alicia (aliciasalwaysreading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for phonics...lots of word families in here.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a silly but sweet book. I loved the illustrations.

[Miss Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chuck's headed to town in his old truck. All the animals on the farm want to come. When the truck breaks down they have to call on their friends to fix it up.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great bright colors, quick read. My kid asked for it on repeat.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Chuck goes into town in his truck, but his animals join for the ride.

Review: I kind of liked this book. I think that as far as transportation books go, it's pretty unusual. It's about a truck, but it's more about animals and perseverance.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the colors in this book. I had a stroke of genius for reading this when I decided to have the children wave with each new addition of the animals. Their waving helped pass the time, as there was just slightly more text than I would typically do for toddlers. But it was not enough for preschool. So the book went well and the children enjoyed watching the journey of the truck.

3/31/11 You win some, you lose some. Both groups' attention spans were great that I was able to work this in as a 4th book. But the second group, which was my tiniest so far here (20) was really not that involved. The first group which has been very involved just suddenly dropped out with this book. And I was trying to get them to make the animal sounds in this. Maybe I should have stuck with the waving. Oh well.

5/1/14 Subbed in Toddler Time. Used this in Farm Animals theme. I had "them" (or parents) telling me what colors each animal was. It went pretty well. The small group was very attentive, so I was pretty happy with it all.

[IfCatsCouldRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for rhyming. We also counted the number of animals that got into the truck. The kids had fun predicting what was going to happen next.
Too many animals get into Chuck's beat up old truck on their trip to town. They end up needing a tow truck. Together with the help of a few handymen, the animals fix up the truck to look brand new.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, lots of rhyming words like "Chuck" and "Luck" - I need to be careful when reading this out loud. Chuck is a farmer who brings the farm animals to town but the truck breaks down.

[Prplpckl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to say and read aloud

[Amanda_DJ n' Zac]

A bit of tongue twister. However, they always make my boys laugh, so any book like this works for us. DJ and Zac really enjoyed all the different animals, and their names.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but I'm not sure if I could do it in storytime. It's kind of a tongue twister!

[Megan Gery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the illustrations, and it's a cute little story. M (3) was intrigued.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the animals jump into Chuck's truck before he heads into town. Chuck's truck breaks down and the animals get a mechanic to fix it.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2* art
3* story

A great tongue twister. And fixing a truck is Squirt's dream.