A fun picture book for children, perfect for reading aloud. Little Blue Truck Author: Alice Schertle Illustrator: Jill McElmurry Publisher: Hoikusha Little Blue Truck First Edition, First Printing ◎ Published April 10, 2015 Perfect for reading aloud. A new standard for first books is born! "Beep beep!" Little Blue Truck arrives, honking his horn! Little Blue Truck meets various animals: baa-baa, quack-quack, neigh-neigh... But then... Children's favorite cars and animals appear. From the interactions of the little trucks, the spirit of helping and supporting each other grows. The illustrations of the animals with lively expressions are wonderful. Happy to look at the pictures, fun to read aloud! A book filled with children's "likes"! A very popular series in America, now making its debut in Japan! Ranked #1 in the "Friendship" category on Amazon US children's books! About the Author Text by Alice Schertle Lives in the forests of Massachusetts and drives her car on muddy, dirt country roads. She has won numerous awards as a poet. She has published many works for children. Illustrations by Jill McElmurry Lives on a farm in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Little Blue Truck in this book was inspired by her blue and white pickup truck. The car's name is "Iris." She likes to ride in Iris, wear her grandfather's old cowboy hat, and go to town singing along to Spanish radio. She has created many fun works. "Who Stole Mona Lisa?" (Iwanami Shoten), "Good Night" (Alice-kan), etc. Translated by Hirotaka Nakagawa Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1954. Singer-songwriter and picture book writer. Worked as a nursery school teacher for 5 years. In 1987, he formed the band "Tora ya Boshi-ten." Active as a leader. Many children sing songs like "Minna Tomodachi," "Sekaijuu no Kodomo-tachi ga," and "Niji." In 1995, he made his picture book debut with "Satsuma no Oimo" (Doshinsha). Received the Japan Picture Book Award for "Naita" (Kin no Hoshi-sha). "Akubi" (Bunkeido), "Aiueo no Uta" (Nora Shoten), "Kobuta no Breton" series (Alice-kan), "Chocolat-chan" series (Kodansha), "Otanjou Tsuki Omedetou" series (Jiyu Kokumin-sha), "Sugoi zo! Bokura no Karada" series (Hoikusha), etc.