Big Rigs on the Move

By: Candice Ransom
Publisher: Lerner Classroom
Publication Date: August 2010
ISBN: 978-0761361152
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: September 2010

Are you one of those people who loves to have a big rig HONK, HONK at you? If so this might be the perfect book for you. Big rigs are working trucks and they can go by many names such as “semitrailers, tractor-trailers, or eighteen-wheelers.” These trucks carry many different kinds of cargo. They can carry anything from horses to houses. Perhaps you’ve seen an auto carrier with all sorts of cars traveling behind its cab or, if you’re lucky, you may have even seen a big rig towing other big rigs. Flatbed trucks like loggers can “tow up to 60,000 pounds (17,215 kilograms).” Amazing, isn’t it?

Some big rigs are refrigerated and if you look closely you can see the refrigeration unit behind the cab. A really “cool” thing is that big rigs “have two parts.” In the front there is the tractor and in the back is the trailer where the cargo is stowed. You can check out pictures of the fifth wheel and the landing gear. Of course these working trucks are meant to “go wherever there are roads.” In this book you’ll be able to see them traveling in the quiet countryside, over a busy suspension bridge, and trucking through snow. You’ll learn what a runaway truck ramp is, how truckers can call for help, what kind of fuel they use, you’ll learn about truck stops, how many wheels they have, and more. Do you know how many wheels most big rigs have?

This is the type of book that any youngster who is into “mighty machines” is going to love. The full color photographs on every page will keep the big rig lover entertained for quite some time as they examine each and every rig. In the back of the book is a “Big Rig Diagram.” The diagram is meant for the young truck lover and does not mention things such as an air dam or more complicated things such as a fifth-wheel coupling, but does point out parts such as the bumper, mirrors, and headlights. Additionally, there is an index, a glossary, some “Fun Facts, and a few recommended books and a website to explore.

Quill says: If you have a youngster who can’t resist waving at every big rig they see, this is one book you might have to consider!