On a hot summer day, three children await the arrival of their father and his brand new shiny, red truck. Dad is in the trucking business and has finally replaced his trusty old Number 14 with this newer model, Number 21. The siblings have great fun exploring its bells and whistles, and the discovery of three chocolate bars only adds to their enjoyment. Dad has even more surprises in store as he disappears with a garden hose and the kids are told to put on their bathing suits. He has transformed the dump box of the truck into a temporary swimming pool. The romp is capped off by a torrent of water emptying out of the truck, much to the delight of the youngsters and the dismay of the adults as they realize the water has washed all of the gravel out of their drive. The story ends with the father spreading new gravel down the lane. This sweet family vignette is illustrated with impressionistic paintings suffused with the warm tones of a summer day.

Although the traditional layout employs text on the pages opposing the primary illustrations, the use of characters on the white space surrounding the typeface draws readers into the pictures and does a nice job of connecting the story to the visual narrative. This tale offers a bit more substance than the many other stories available for the legions of truck enthusiasts. - School Library Journal.