13 Books About Trucks, Tractors and Other “Things That Go”

My 4-year-old son’s love for truck books — books about trucks, tractors, buses and, really, anything that moves — appears to be a lasting one. From early library trips to the books he now reads at preschool, the stories about trucks have been the best-liked.

We love the modern classics Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Little Blue Truck — they’re great places to start. But what’s up next once those stories have been read and read and read again?

Here are 13 of our favorite truck books:

Truck books with flaps, slides and even real wheels

1. Big Dump Truck, Bus and Farm Tractor by D.K. Publishing — I’ve always loved D.K.’s travel books, and we have also loved the company’s Wheelie Board Book series. When my son was younger, they were the perfect item to pack for outings: A book that was also a toy, with real wheels.

2. Noisy Tractor by Roger Priddy — I’m not generally into books that make noise. (Why, just why?) But this one, like other Priddy books, is full of interesting facts about tractors — enough to override the noises made by the four colorful buttons.

3. Trucks — Lift-the-Flap Tab by Roger Priddy — My son and I were touring around one day (back when we used to travel!) — and I realized I’d forgotten to pack a book in the stroller. Luckily we were in NYC, full of delightful book stores — and we lucked into Trucks.

4. Vroom, Vroom, Trucks! by Karen Katz — Katz has a host of cute lift-the-flap books. (I love Where is Baby’s Pumpkin?!) This one has good truck and animal words for expanding a youngster’s vocabulary. 

5. The Wheels on the Bus: Sing Along With Me! by Nosy Crow and Yu-Hsuan Huang — I am enchanted by Yu-Hsuan Huang’s illustrations. The moveable parts in this series make them great for little ones.

Truck books with fun sounds

6. Boats Go by Steve Light — Boats Go is full of nice illustrations of different kinds of boats. The only words on each page are the sounds that the boats make, which makes this an engaging “read” for even the youngest of kiddos. (I like doing the sounds. Just me?)

7. Big Shiny Machines: Hard at Work by Ant Parker — We found this classic in our neighborhood’s little library. The pages describe the trucks and the sounds they make.

8. Go New York Go by Duopress Labs — This lovely book is a great way to introduce New York City to a kid who loves vehicles. 

Little board truck books

9. City (Wheels at Work) by Cocoretto — This simple fold-out board book connects the dots between vehicles and the work they do. My son still loves it, even with just a few words on each page.

10. I Am a Dump Truck by Josephine Page — This well-loved title — a gift to us from Dadi and Baba — fell apart many moons ago, but my son still played with the truck-shaped pages. (I finally put them back together last month.) 

11. Little Truck and Bus Stops by Taro Gomi — It’s hard to imagine a cuter truck story than Little Truck. Bus Stops is another sweet little glimpse at a day in the life of a bus. 

Oversized truck books

12. The Usborne Big Book of Big Tractors by Lisa Jane Gillespie — This oversized volume is full of specialized machines you won’t see in many truck books. One of my son’s favorites is the crawler transporter, which moves NASA’s space shuttle from hangar to launch pad. (Can’t get enough? This book is part of a series!)

13. Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry — I almost hesitated to put this 72-page epic on the list, but it’s a true classic. Just be warned that it could become a bedtime favorite, leading to long, adventure-filled evenings.

p.s. Did I miss one? Drop your favorite truck books into the comments below!