Number 21

Linda Ludke is a librarian at the London Public Library.

On a sultry summer afternoon in the country, a young girl and her family
anxiously await the arrival of their father and his brand-new,
candy-apple-red dump truck. Soon it arrives and the siblings explore the
truck’s mysterious nooks and crannies, taking great pleasure in
turning the steering wheel, honking the horn, and uncovering a hidden
cache of chocolate bars in the glove box. The truck becomes even more
magical when their father uses a garden hose to transform the cab into
an impromptu swimming pool. In a wonderful grande finale the cab is
emptied and “a wild waterfall crashes out, pouring down the lane.”

Nancy Hundal’s poetic, first-person text captures a child’s
anticipation and “delight of hearing a rumbling, roaring engine.”
Brian Deines’s impressionistic oil paintings shimmer with the reds and
yellows of the summer heat. Young readers will pore over the full-page
illustrations of this seemingly larger than life new truck. As the
narrator says, “Everything about Number 21 seems to be fun.” Highly
recommended.