If My Love Were a Fire Truck: A Daddy's Love Song

by Luke Reynolds, Jeff Mack

Overview

A father's love for his son goes zoom, swoosh, vroom, boom! This energetic, adventurous, action-packed lullaby about the bond between a father and his son is perfect for Valentine's Day, Father's Day, and any day!

Together, a father and his son are as powerful as a rocket ship blasting into space, a giant whale splashing across the ocean, and booming, colorful fireworks lighting up the night sky. Celebrating the one-of-a-kind relationship between Dad and his favorite little guy, If My Love Were a Fire Truck is a rhyming love song from fathers to sons that will become a cherished part of their lives for many years to come.

A Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year

"A lovely bedtime story offering reassurance in a fun way."—The Washington Post

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101937426
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	04/18/2017
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	39 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

LUKE REYNOLDS is the author of the picture books If My Love Were a Fire Truck and Bedtime Blastoff! as well as the middle-grade nonfiction books Fantastic Failures and Surviving Middle School, and the middle-grade novel The Looney Experiment. After teaching English for many years in public schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Luke is now an Assistant Professor of Education at Endicott College. Although he earned a Ph.D from Boston College, his greatest learning experience was being a paperboy—first at age 11, and then again at age 32. Luke and his wife, Jennifer, have three sons. Visit Luke online at lukewreynolds.com.  


JEFF MACK has written and illustrated a wide range of children’s books, including If My Love Were a Fire Truck, Hush Little Polar Bear, Good News Bad News, Duck in the Fridge, Frog and Fly, Hippo and Rabbit and the Mr. Monkey series, earning him three Texas 2x2 awards, a Colorado Bell Award, a Pennsylvania Family Literacy Award, a New York Public Library Best Book of the Year Award, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year award, and an Illinois Monarch Award nomination. Visit him online at jeffmack.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/17/2017
As a father tucks his child into bed, playful allusions communicate the breadth of his love: “If my love were a marching band,/ its drums would crash and boom./ And if my love were a racing car,/ it would rev and rattle and vroom.” Mack’s bright mixed-media scenes emphasize the strong connection between father and son as they roar like lions on the savannah, dive for undersea treasure, and watch fireworks: “If my love were a firework,/ it would blast long past this song.” Reynolds provides an uplifting message of comfort and commitment in this easygoing lullaby. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"This bedtime story reassures and entertains. A guaranteed hit for vehicle lovers."—School Library Journal

"An uplifting message of comfort and commitment."—Publishers Weekly

"An opening for parent-child pairs to use their own imaginations to see where love will take them."—Kirkus

"Luke Reynolds offers extravagant metaphors for paternal affections . . . a series of tenderhearted comparisons matched with colorful, exuberant pictures by Jeff Mack."—The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

04/01/2017
PreS-Gr 1—As a dad tucks his son in for the night, the toy fire truck the boy cradles inspires a rhyming song about all the ways a father's love keeps a son safe and happy, wherever they may be. "If my love were a knight's big shield,/it would fight any dragon's flame./And if my love were a lion's roar,/it would thunder across the plain." The mixed-media scenes show the boy and his dad floating in space, surfing in the ocean, and finding treasure while scuba diving. They race cars, ride horses, and wave to the monkeys while on a safari. Everything they do, they do together, even falling asleep. The colorful art is simple and engaging. VERDICT This bedtime story reassures and entertains. A guaranteed hit for vehicle lovers.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta.

School Library Journal

2017-03-20
A father's lullaby to his young son imagines his affection in figurative language."If my love were an elephant, / it would stomp from tree to tree. / And if my love were a great blue whale, / it would splash across the sea." From a rocket ship blasting off and a marching band whose drums "crash and boom" to a bucking bronco and a lion's thundering roar, the text describes where and how this dad's love for his son might manifest. The boldly colored mixed-media illustrations show the duo (both pale-skinned and black-haired) in each situation: knights in armor roasting marshmallows behind a shield that protects them from a dragon's fiery breath or divers discovering a treasure chest on the ocean floor. Most of the rhymes scan well, though the text ends rather suddenly: "If my love were a firework, / it would blast long past this song. // And if my love were a big bear hug, / it would snuggle you all night long." The visual here is much more satisfying than the words, as the two are fast asleep, smiles on their faces, child lying atop father, each with an arm around the other. Readers are likely to wish for the music to go with the verses.An opening for parent-child pairs to use their own imaginations to see where love will take them. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews