12 Picture Books About Things That Go!

Each page of this story features a short poem about a truck — from street sweepers to backhoes, ambulances to snowplows, forklifts to tow trucks. The end of the book shows children playing with toy trucks and asks, “Which truck would YOU like to be?”

A princess is on the race track, and on her last lap, she finds out she’s in last place! She has to find a way to pass all her fairy tale competitors so she can win the race.

All the trucks in the city have important responsibilities — except the garbage truck. He just collects the trash. When a snowstorm hits, the garbage truck becomes Supertruck and saves the day. This is one of several vehicle-based picture books by Stephen Savage.

A boy and his parents take a road trip through Cuba in their old family car, and the boy happily describes the sounds of his car and points out the other cars they see along the way. Children will enjoy the beautiful illustrations filled with dozens of old cars.

When a pickup truck named Blue gets stuck in the mud, his animal friends come to the rescue. With rhythm and rhymes, lots of animal sounds, and a good lesson about friendship, this story is a fun one to enjoy again and again.

For children who are ready to enjoy illustrated beginner chapter books, this story follows Mercy — Mr. and Mrs. Watson’s pet pig — who decides she wants to take a turn to drive the family’s pink convertible.

This book provides a new version of “The Wheels on the Bus” as readers follow a tuk tuk taxi traveling through a metropolis in India. With a familiar tune, fun pictures, and new vocabulary (rupee, wala, namaste-ji), this story will engage young children from beginning to end.

In this classic, Caldecott Honor book, Donald Crews shares the joy of a colorful freight train passing by.

This book features mash-ups between animals and vehicles. Children will laugh as they read about monkey-mopeds, a salmon-submarine, a bear-bus, and more.

Bertha, Bruno, and Buster are big planes who each have important roles in helping fight forest fires. Little Smokey wants to help too, but she’s always too little — until a little plane is just what is needed to save the day. The end of the book shares factual information about wildfires.

In this nonfiction book for beginning readers, Buzz teaches Fly Guy all about monster trucks.

One of the “Construction Crew” books, Roadwork shows the steps it takes to build a brand-new road. Adults and children alike will enjoy the onomatopoeia and sound effects throughout the story.