Tow-Truck Pluck

How could I give my favorite childhood book any less than 5 stars?
I had a great time reading this one again. I loved the story, characters and illustrations, and the translation is great. I would definitely recommend this to any kid (and their parents)!

I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I came across this copy of the English translation of what has to be one of my absolute childhood favorites. I grew up with the Annie M.G. Schmidt books and her stories were probably among the first I read all by myself. Tow-Truck Pluck with its lovely illustrations by Fiep Westendorp (the same as the original Dutch version) is without doubt a book to treasure with your children and a title I cannot praise high enough. The English translation is well done and doesn't feel awkward or loses its original charm. Pluck is a delightful character and his adventures will appeal to most young readers. Simple, but full of charismatic characters, animals that can talk and illustrations to enjoy; Tow-Truck Pluck is the perfect choice if you are looking for a new title to read with or to the little ones. They will want to reread it many times! Each chapter has a new adventure, so they work perfectly as bedtime stories.

Tow-Truck Pluck is the story of a small boy with now parents, family or history. He has no home so when he finds a room in the tower of the Pitt building, he moves in. Each chapter is a story in itself. Pluck meets many of the residents of the Pitt building, some kind, some not so kind, some strange but all interesting. Along with the people he meets, he also meets and helps animals such as ZaZa the cockroach, Dizzy the squirrel and Longmount the horse. Pluck is always willing to help his neighbours and they all love him except for Mrs. Brightner, the lady with the spraycan who is a clean freak. She does not allow her daughter, Aggie, to go outside because she will get dirty. There are other children in the building that Pluck meets and befriends as well as his pigeon friend Dolly.

Each adventure can be read as a bedtime story or it can be read as a book with chapters in one continuous story. Pluck is a delightful boy who manages to be of help to all his neighbors, be they human or animal, and slowly find his place in society. His adventures on fun with a message in each such as helping others etc. The illustrations are delightful. They are colourful with a lot of emotions emitted from the characters. This book was translated from Dutch but it is easy to read and could become a family favourite.

About: Tow-Truck Pluck is a fiction picture book written by Annie M.G. Schmidt. It was translated by David Colmer & published on 7/7/2016 by Pushkin Children’s Books, 200 pages. The original book is called Pluk van de Petteflet, one of Netherlands’ most popular children’s books of all time. The author was born in 1911 and died 1995. She won the biggest prize for children’s books called The Hans Christian Andersen Award. She also wrote for radio and TV, songs, musical, and radio plays, but she was most famous for her children’s books.

My Experience: I started reading Tow-Truck Pluck for my 5 year-old son on 10/25/16 and finished it on 11/13/16. I read one to two chapters for him each night before bedtime. It gets addicting and I started reading for him while we eat breakfast and pretty much every chance we get. I have a problem, I get extremely sleepy when I read a book out loud, this is the main reason why it takes so long for me to finish reading this book. My son loves this book a lot and everyday he begs for me to read it and he doesn’t want me to stop. I had to stop when I get so sleepy that I started reading non-existent words haha..

This book is awesome! I highly recommend this book for all children 12 years and younger. This book is about a little boy named Pluck. He drives a red tow truck. He doesn’t have a place to live and while driving, he met a dove called Dolly and she introduced him a room in the tower of the Pill Building. He moved in and made many friends along the way. He goes on many adventures and he’s very helpful to everyone he meets. He goes out of his way to help someone in need, people or animals, no matter how difficult it is. The story flow nicely and the ending wraps up great. There were just a few bad words that I replaced with good words when I read. It’s better to invest in a hardcopy book because the picture doesn’t show up consistent on the mobile phone and the signs comes out with question marks.

Pro: good friends, helpful characters, adventures, think positive, friendly, different animals and professionals in the city

Con: swear words (brat, stupid, idiot, etc) not good for 5 year olds

I rate it 5 stars!

***Disclaimer: I received this ebook via NetGalley in an exchanged for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review!

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com

This is a fab little book and it had a really enjoyable story, I liked the images and would certainly recommend it to others, especially little boys as I know they would love this!

I have been reading these stories to my son's over the past few weeks and my oldest (three year old) loves the stories of Tow Truck Pluck.