THE TRUCKER

When young Wesley's red toy truck magically grows into a full-size semi with a load of lumber to deliver, he's in for the ride of his life. But before Wesley can reach the lumberyard, he has to navigate in a "window wash" (a big rainstorm). Then he runs into "bubble trouble" (a blown tire), but with assistance from a service truck that Wesley was nice enough to help out earlier, the boy arrives safe and sound. It's too good to be true—Wesley was just having a dream. But real life isn't so bad; Daddy is a trucker, and takes Wesley along on his next trip. Mark Weatherby's (My Dinosaur ) impressively detailed acrylics have an at times uncanny verisimilitude. Unfortunately, the emotional wallop of the pictures isn't shared by the text. Brenda Weatherby—the illustrator's wife, making her debut—writes with unnecessary literalness ("Muddy water splashed against the windows. It was hard to see, and now the roads looked unfamiliar"), and the flat, descriptive prose puts brakes on the story's immediacy and excitement. But even if little truckers tune out the words, the pictures will leave them wishing they were in Wesley's shoes. A glossary at the end defines more trucker lingo. Ages 3-5. (Apr.)