The digger and the dark

PreS-Gr 3--Digger and his friends are busy working on a park all day. Assembling climbing equipment, surfacing ball courts, and setting up swings keeps the big trucks occupied until bedtime. Just as the vehicles finally get settled for the night, two playful raccoons appear in the blue twilight. The trucks agree to play "only for a minute," but stay up all night with their new little friends. Each night the furry visitors reappear and keep the trucks awake to chat, or scratch, or have a snack. When at last the trucks can't stay awake any longer, the raccoons return the care they have received by tucking in Digger and singing a bedtime song. Illustrations capture the brightly colored, anthropomorphic trucks and the striped tails and masked faces of their pals. Each truck has headlight eyes that open wide in excitement, narrow to tired slits, or even spiral dizzily from exhaustion. Their grills form smiles, crinkle crookedly when the trucks are tired, and relax peacefully when they sleep. Hoist plucks apples from trees and Crane's cable is used as a zipline to entertain the raccoons. Readers will laugh as the trucks get ready for bed. They "change" tires rather than clothes and "read" a manual instead of a bedtime story, but the rituals are very familiar. VERDICT An enjoyable bedtime or story hour treat; youngsters will wait for this book to make an appearance in their days or nights.--Suzanne Costner

The latest in Kuefler's Digger series finds several tuckered-out trucks in need of some serious shut-eye. It's getting late, so Digger and the other vehicles decide to finish their construction work tomorrow. They wash, brush their grilles, snuggle, and say good night. Now they're ready to snooze. A pair of rascally raccoons show up with other ideas. "We'll play with you," Digger says. "But only for a minute." That minute lasts till sunup. The raccoons go to bed; the trucks return to work. Next evening, as the trucks are falling asleep, guess who arrives? The raccoons are hungry, so the trucks spend all night handing out treats. Every night, the raccoons return for various reasons. And every morning, the trucks resume work. Each night, yawning and ever more exhausted, they prepare for bed. This time, when the raccoons appear, the trucks are so beat that they're fast asleep--except Digger, delirious with lack of sleep, who announces he's ready to play! Now, the raccoons' agenda has changed--they solicitously tuck Digger in, kiss him tenderly, and sing him a lullaby. Finally, Digger and the trucks enjoy sweet dreams together. Truck enthusiasts will savor this sweet story; hopefully, sleep-resistant little ones will get the point. The raccoons' attitude reversal will have kids chuckling. The upbeat, blocky illustrations depict the vehicles with endearingly anthropomorphized faces. An enchanting--and soothing--bedtime tale. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.