Want to Play Trucks? by Ann Stott (review)

Jack and Alex are buddies with slightly different tastes (“Jack likes trucks. Alex likes dolls”), but they enjoy playing together in the sandbox, compromising to “play dolls that drive trucks.” The amity hits a snag when Jack looks at Alex’s dancer doll and says, “You can’t wear a tutu and drive a crane,” leading to a hot-tempered exchange. It turns out, though, that Jack is merely pointing out that the tutu doesn’t fit in the driver’s seat, so Alex happily changes his doll’s clothes to purple overalls and the two keep on truckin’. The story’s tension and release is dependent on the audience’s anticipation of Jack’s objection being sexist, but that’s an adult rather than a kid viewpoint, so for young audiences there really isn’t much plot here. However, the story of kids who resolve play differences effectively is spun with a light hand, and everybody will cheer a resolution that’s crowned with ice cream. Graham’s familiar airy line and watercolor art brings the story to distinctive and cozy life, making it all part of a plausible park outing with moms chatting on the bench behind the boys and the individualized passersby, in a fully representational cast, clearly having their own rich lives. It’s that dip into Graham world that really makes this a worthwhile experience, so maybe use this just to talk about different play preferences and pore over the pictures.