Big Red Truck

First-time author-illustrator (and real-life truck driver) Schlossberg scores with this good-natured picture book that cleverly juxtaposes fantasy and reality. While helping his parents around the house one Saturday, Ray pretends his tricycle is a big rig and sets off to explore the ""wide open country."" Readers are treated to scenes from the boy's daydream (zipping down the highway in a bright red 18-wheeler, eating at a truck-stop cafe, crashing into a ditch, getting stopped for speeding) as well as more mundane events (doing the dishes, weeding, mowing the lawn) that serve as springboards for Ray's imagination. Schlossberg's frisky colored-pencil sketches exude a '50s mood, continually delighting with a variety of well-chosen angles and perspectives. Ages 3-5. (Oct.)