Car, Car, Truck, Jeep

Katrina Charman, illus. Nick Sharratt
Bloomsbury
Age 0-3 years

Based on the traditional nursery rhyme ‘Baa, Baa Black Sheep’ this is a picture book designed to be sung as well as read.

As we open the book, we set off on a car journey, spotting a range of vehicles on the way, both familiar and less familiar. There are vehicles on the road, and in the air, as we journey from town to countryside to seaside and finally, exhausted after a busy day, all the vehicles fall asleep.

The opening pages directly echo the original rhyme with ‘Car, car, truck, jeep have you any fuel? ‘Yes sir, yes sir, three tanks full.’ The rest of the book plays with the tune, rhythm and rhyme. Great fun.

Watch a trailer 

 

Share the story

Watch the story being shared 

Read aloud
Before sharing the book with your child, read it yourself to see how the rhyme works and to decide whether to read or sing when you share it with your child. Either is fine.

Read (or sing!) the story to your child pausing if they notice something in the illustrations they want to talk about.

Join in
When children are familiar with the rhyme, invite them to join in, for example with sound effects such as ‘vroom vroom.’ If they know it very well, they might join in all the way through as you read or sing the rhyme.

Talk about the Book
Children will notice things they want to point out as they look at the book. You could encourage them to show you the red bus, talk about the different vehicles and what they do and count the petrol pumps

Sing the story – see here
You could sing it as you read the book and sing parts when you are out and about, at bath time or any time.

 

Things to make and do

Out and About
Look out for the different vehicles in the story when you are out and about, eg buses, trucks, emergency vehicles. If you drive, you could talk about filling with ‘fuel’ when you stop at a garage and point out the red signal when you stop at traffic lights. Talk about vehicles above in the sky as well as on the road.

Go on a listening walk
Listen to the sounds of the different vehicles on the road, you may hear helicopters, planes and  even trains, if you are near a railway line.  Can children tell what the vehicle is from the sound it makes?

Make a track
Make a track on the floor, marking it out with a tape measure, string or with chalk on paving stones for toy vehicles to weave in and out, zoom and stop.

Watch a performance of the original rhyme here
This performance starts with the familiar traditional rhyme then moves into different variations. Perhaps you could make up some more versions together too!

 

Find out more

Read more books by this author/illustrator team Katrina Charman and Nick Sharratt

The Whales on the Bus to the tune of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’

Go, Go Pirate Boat to the tune of ‘Row, Row, Row your Boat’

Visit our activity page for another book by Nick Sharratt Shark in the Park