The Old Truck

As the book begins, a young couple is seen working on a farm. The wife is visibly pregnant, and on the following page, a young girl has joined the family. Together they all labor, assisted by a beloved red truck, to haul produce and care for animals. As the girl grows, the truck gets older and soon sits abandoned in overgrown weeds alongside the barn, but in her dreams, the girl and truck continue to share delightful adventures, from the ocean to outer space. When she’s older and in charge of the farm, through long hours and hard work, she restores the truck, beginning a new cycle as the girl’s own daughter appears. Capturing the Pumphreys’ own ideals of hard work, persistence, and achieving big dreams—principles that they explain in bonus material were taught and lived by women in their family for generations—the old truck serves as a perfect vehicle for driving the story forward as readers watch the young protagonist grow and mature. This powerful debut treats themes intelligently, with minimal explanation but with enormous depth and meaning. The remarkable illustrations, created using handmade stamps, breathe heart into the simple text, and with their soft palette and retro style, give the story a warm, classic appeal.