Trucks, trucks, trucks

So you know Isaac likes vehicles. To your left is the cover of a book we've checked out of the library on many occasions, and the title says it all -- trucks, trucks, trucks.

The book is about a little boy who, while pretending his toy trucks are real, is depicted as actually driving them. The author has used the theme of imaginary play in other books as well, including "Fire Truck," which we've checked out of the library several times, and "Ballerina," which we had never checked out.

And why not? I asked myself that last weekend while I was at work at the library, and I didn't have a good answer. So I brought it home.

Isaac immediately wanted me to read it to him, and he listened to it intently, as he does with all new books. And he has asked to hear it again several times since then, which is also typical. But when I read it to him today, for some reason we ended up looking at the back inside flap of the book jacket. On the flap were several small pictures of the author's other books, including "Trucks, Trucks, Trucks" and "Fire Truck."

"Look at that!" Isaac said with astonishment. He pulled the book onto his lap to get a closer look. "There are little trucks there!" He studied the back flap for about five times as long as we had spent reading the book itself. Then I saw the real contrast between the polite interest he gave to the book about dance and the passionate devotion he felt for the book about vehicles -- even though it was only a picture of its cover.

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I'm selling Izzy short here. He doesn't know anything about dance, after all, and he knows a lot about vehicles. The book about dance is also intended for kids who are slightly older than he is. And he truly loves all sorts of books, not just ones about vehicles. One of his current favorites is a very emotional book about a girl who temporarily loses a beloved balloon ("Emily's Balloon" by Komako Sakai). And of the ten books he has requested I read to him today, only three were about vehicles.