Little Red
by Will Hillenbrand; illus. by the author
Preschool    Ottaviano/Little, Brown    40 pp.
10/23    9780316333627    $18.99

Cheerful pick-up truck Little Red and his intrepid driver, Katie, are known throughout Tiny Town as the ones to call in a jam. From jump-starting Purple Delivery Van’s battery to fixing Yellow Popcorn Wagon’s flat, this team makes unscheduled stops above and beyond their “one more job for the day,” even as “the snow came down and down.” A satisfyingly seasonal penultimate stop leads to an effectively foreshadowed big-reveal conclusion (including a vertical book-turn). There are so many details to love, from the text’s patterned repetition to the digital illustrations’ unique personality-filled vehicles to the color-coded speech bubbles and sound effects. Many “thanks to Little Red and Katie,” indeed.

From the November/December 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.