Two Tough Trucks

Two Tough Trucks is a phenomenal picture book that not only educates young children about a wide range of feelings an individual may experience when trying new things, such as going to school for the first time or engaging in new activities that they haven’t tried before, but it also validates the emotions that everybody experiences at some point in their life. The two very first pages of the picture book introduce young readers to two trucks that seem to have personalities that are very different from one another.

Mack is an outgoing truck that is eager and ready to face any challenge that comes his way while Rig is hesitant, slow, and cautious. Both attend the first day of school with contrasting emotions. Mack and Rig are instantly partnered up to tackle the race track circuits for the remainder of the day. Mack immediately finds himself excelling, leaving his cautious partner in the dust. Both trucks become frustrated at each other for different reasons; Mack wishes his partner was faster while Rig wishes his partner was more mindful of his feelings and was willing to wait up for him. After the first two races, their teacher switches the challenge up and tasks the trucks with driving backwards through a circuit. With this pivotal moment in the story allowing Rig to find one of the tasks that he excelled at and pushing Mack to the breaking point of quitting, it also brought the two trucks together and shows the true meaning of teamwork.

While the authors, Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca J. Gomez, successfully express how each character is feeling through the use of text, it is important to acknowledge just how accurately the illustrations depict the emotions as well making them accessible to both a very young audience and an audience that may be more familiar with the range of emotions being experienced by the main characters. The illustrator, Hilary Leung, does a fantastic job at playing with the trucks’ different facial expressions to clearly demonstrate how each truck is feeling at every given moment. This story validates a range of emotions and, as a result, reassures young readers that it is not only normal to feel these emotions, but it is also highly likely that they will feel a majority of them at some point in their lives.

The perseverance of each truck throughout the story’s entirety is evident and infectious; I couldn’t help but feel inspired by both trucks at different points in the story and their journey towards success. Each truck faced significant challenges that it struggled to overcome, but each truck also found something that it excelled at and enjoyed. This storyline encourages readers to try new things, to acknowledge the way they are feeling throughout the day and, most importantly, to be patient with themselves. Schwartz and Gomez teach and constantly remind readers that success doesn’t happen overnight and that, sometimes, we need help from others just like superstar Mack and hesitant Rig did.

Lastly, this story teaches young readers to always stay humble in life, especially when experiencing success. We must remember to be kind and thoughtful by always thinking of others and being aware of how they are feeling. Even in Rig’s greatest success near the end of the story, he is conscious of Mack’s frustrations at not being able to complete the driving backwards challenge, and he offers to help him.

Two Tough Trucks is so enjoyable and effective in conveying its important main messages to young readers because the authors have made it extremely easy to connect in some way or another with each of the main characters and their different journeys. Needless to say, I highly recommend this book; I can see it being a great tool to be used by a parent or teacher of young children. The various messages in this story are valuable, and we should start exposing our youth to them from a very young age. Two Tough Trucks has the ability to foster individual perseverance and compassion for others. I will definitely read this book to my grade one students not only to inspire them but also to open up the conversation about the different emotions we all will experience at some point in our lives.