Roadworks! The Big Book of Transport

 

                                                

 

Roadworks! The Big Book of Transport   

Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock

 

Roadworks!
The Big Book
of Transport
Walker (2026)
Picture book
96 pages, Hardback
ISBN 978 1 761603 48 8

 This collection really earns its exclamation mark. It brings together three marvellous read-aloud books from which generations of children have enjoyed chorusing, ‘Bang! Clang! Crack!’ and even ‘Crash Roar! Thump!’ Those sounds are a wrecking ball knocking down an old building and a tip-truck dumping a load of stones for a new road, respectively. The three books are Roadworks (2008), Demolition (2012) and Construction (2014).

There are two award-winning creators involved. Sally Sutton writes the verses and provides the onomatopoiea:

‘Mark the road. Mark the road. Give the paint a squirt.
Paint the lines in, nice and straight. Whizz! Splop! Splurt!’
 

Brian Lovelock is the artist who provides the well-loved pictures of heavy machinery and the hi-vis-coated women and men who operate them. Cranes, road-rollers, scrapers, excavators, bulldozers and tip-trucks all roar across the pages to the joyous recognition of young readers. 

‘Clang! Crunch! Crack!’

 Re-reading these books, I was struck by how cleverly each of the three ends.

Roadworks shows the construction of a highway from the first pegs in the ground to the switching-on of the lights and the planting of roadside greenery. It ends with a school bus driving along the brand-new road, with happy children waving out the windows.

Demolition, as its title suggests, is about knocking down and clearing away an old building. The final pages show recovered material being used for new purposes and finally the site becomes a new playground. ‘Run and climb and play … Hip Hip Hooray!’’

Construction begins with driving in the piles for a new building and gives a vivid idea of the complexity of the stages of construction. The story’s climax comes with the revelation that the wonderful new structure is a library. It fills with young readers.

‘Choose your books. Choose your books. Borrow all you need.
The library’s here for everyone. Ready … Steady … READ!’

Best of all, every page acknowledges the people who do the work, especially in the double-page, child’s-eye-level portrait of five roadbuilders enjoying their lunch-break. ‘Sandwiches and drinks and fruit. Gulp! Slurp! Crunch!’

 But wait there’s more. The compendium ends with four pages of ‘Machine Facts’ providing a crane-spotter’s guide to graders and trucks, as well as eleven richly-illustrated pages of road-working puzzles and observation games.

 At 96 pages, Roadworks! The Big Book of Transport is a hefty volume (650 grams) but there will be plenty of parents and grandparents willing to pull their weight in the fun of shared reading. The designer has thoughtfully provided rounded corners so no readers will be injured while enjoying this book

‘Heave-ho! Phew!’

 Trevor Agnew
9 Nov 2026  [Review 3878.]