Things that Go!

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Things that GO! A few of our favorite books with cars, planes, trains, and more. // One Lovely Life
I moved nine times by the time I was 18. My dad wasn’t in the military, but we moved a lot. That meant that I attended a lot of schools. Seven schools before I graduated high school, to be exact.

I know lots of people who have moved more times or lived more places or attended more schools. I only state these facts to illustrate a point. It is this:

I’ve learned more car, truck, airplane, boat, and construction vehicle names in the last six months than I ever did in the course of seven schools and two universities. I can identify more than 10 different construction vehicles, tell you the difference between a tanker truck and a semi truck, and even know a few kinds of boats and planes.

The joys of having a little boy and girl who love things that go! Since it feels like that’s all we read these days, I thought I’d share a few of our favorite books featuring all things that go. In no particular order…

Things that GO! Our favorite books about planes, trains, cars, trucks, and more! // One Lovely Life

Things that Go! Books we’re loving lately. 

The Little Dump Truck – I love this book. The illustrations are great, the rhymes are great, and there’s lots to search for and ask questions about. (i.e. “where is the dog?” “do you see a red hat?”)

Steam Train, Dream Train – I love this author. This is a gorgeous book with great illustrations. It’s a fun little journey to follow, and it’s easy to read. It’s great for asking lots of questions (“how many ___ do you see?” “What animal is that?” “what are they doing”)

Three Bears in a Boat – I can’t say enough about how much I love these illustrations. So beautiful.

Roadwork – This book has a great rhythm. The pictures are fun to look at, and Milo can read it 6 times in a row before being ready to move on.

Tip Tip, Dig Dig and its sister book Toot Toot, Beep Beep were surprise favorites. A few weeks ago, I grabbed every single board book in the library that had a car or truck on it and carted them home. They’re not especially riveting for grown ups, but both my kids love these books and read them over and over (and over and over and…). You can work on colors, fill in the blanks (i.e. “the tipper truck can ____?”), and more.

Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? – This is a great wind-down-the-day book. You tuck in lots of different vehicles, and by the end, you feel a little sleepy yourself.

Locomotive – This is a Caldecott winner and it’s beautiful. It was actually a bit wordy and advanced for our attention spans, so we use it to act things out. We practice train sounds, use our favorite Disney princess figurines to dance or “ride” the train on the pages, etc.

Pilot Pups – My friend Jami sent us a few books recently, which was a total pick-me-up. We are, in many ways, living pretty parallel lives. Our oldest girls struggle with some of the same challenges and are fascinated by some of the same topics (like robots), and our boys like the same things and have very fun personalities. This is one of her son’s favorites, and Milo is sure enjoying it. You follow some stuffed dogs on a quick adventure around the house before bedtime. The illustrations are fun, and it’s a good one for anyone who like planes.

Toy Boat – This book follows what happens when a little boy’s boat slips away and out into real world. Fun illustrations and cute little story.

The Little School Bus – This is a sister book to The Little Dump Truck. We got it for Milo because he loves all things that move, but we also used it to talk to Sophie about school. That illustrator does great things!

Other favorites we’ve mentioned before:

Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site  – We read this book about every other day, and have for the last many months. It’s one of our very favorites, by the same author as Steam Train, Dream Train.  They also just came out with a matching game (like Memory). It looks adorable, and I plan on getting a set for Christmas.

The Little Blue Truck series – We love Little Blue Truck and Little Blue Truck Leads the Way.
I can’t WAIT for the latest addition to the series–Little Blue Truck’s Christmas. It’s coming out this September, and I plan on getting a copy to start reading as soon as it’s socially acceptable to read Christmas books.

Set of 5 Mini Construction Cars – If you’re looking for a little set of construction cars, these are our favorites. They’re inexpensive, there’s a whole set, and they work really well under lots of use. We use ours in the water table, in the rocks, in a tub of beans during sensory time, and on the go when I need something portable to keep Milo entertained. (Pinterest is full of construction cakes that feature these, if you’re feeling fancy.) I can’t recommend them enough.

What books are your little ones loving lately? Anything I should track down? 

p.s. For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links will never change the price you pay for products. 

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4 Comments

  1. Our son loved one called “I Stink” about a garbage truck. It’s all in how you read that one. He was a little older than your kids are now. Also, are you into trains much yet? That is a fun phase! Lots of train books and toys. We actually got our daughter a train set when she was little and then of course our son used it lots (still does sometimes at age 7).

  2. We love goodnight goodnight construction site! My son also really likes my truck is stuck (I don’t like the rhythm though)

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