Whizzy Wheels Academy: Tess the Tractor

by Peter Bently, Sebastien Chebret (Illustrator)

Overview

Meet Tess the Tractor, Whizzy Wheels Academy's latest recruit! Follow her as she learns all about her role on the farm and what her job entails. This sweet story explores Tess’s journey of discovery as she learns all about herself and her capabilities. Cheer Tess on as she overcomes a challenge and learns a valuable lesson in this delightful picture book, part of a fun new board book series for vehicle-mad preschoolers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780711240742
Publisher:	words & pictures
Publication date:	10/16/2018
Series:	Whizzy Wheels Academy
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	20
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Peter Bently is married with two children, and lives in south England. He studied languages at Oxford University and has written over 40 titles, one of which led to him being awarded the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2011.

Editorial Reviews

2018-12-05

Another series of board books about trucks hopes to find an audience in a crowded marketplace.

The premise is simple—chunky, rather generic-looking vehicles attend Whizzy Wheels Academy to learn driving skills from their instructor, Rusty, a yellow pickup truck. Like the other vehicles in the class, red tractor Tess sports a smile between her headlights. Rusty has a mustache (maybe to make him look older?). All the trucks have large eyeballs in their windshields—Tess' are lashed—but no drivers in sight. Tess thinks she already knows everything a tractor needs to know. She wants to go "faster." She gets stuck in the mud and must be rescued by Rusty and Lenny the loader. This turn of events comes across as more than a bit sexist since Tess is the only female in the truck fleet (or at least the only one with eyelashes). In contrast, Fergus the Fire Engine, publishing simultaneously, gets a gold star from Rusty for rescuing a man from a burning building and putting out the fire, all without help from a firefighter. With two to eight lines of text per page, complicated storylines, and blatant character-education messages, these stories are not ideally suited for very young children and should be regarded as an additional purchase at best for older children desperate for new books about trucks.

These driverless vehicles aren't quite road ready. (Board book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews