Drive by Nathan Clement

Drive
Written and illustrated by Nathan Clement
Front Street Press, $16.95
32 pp.; ISBN-13: 978-1590785171

Review by Amy Brozio-Andrews

A young boy's perspective on his dad's trucking career is the focus of Drive, the new picture book from writer and graphic artist Nathan Clement.

A sun-up to sun-down view of a day in the life of a truck driver begins with dad leaving before the boy wakes up. From getting his trailer filled and heading out on the road, the boy knows his dad is busy all day long. He knows Dad is a careful driver, keeping an eye out for fellow travelers, even honking his horn in response to prompting by the young boy in a car going by. During slow times, the boy's dad stops for a meal. He arrives at his destination just in time to fill up and head home, making it just in time for a father and son game of catch before the sun goes down.

This sweet and simple story makes it clear that the child is proud of his father's work, reinforced by the tone and prose style of the writing as well as the final scene in which the two play ball at sunset. The arrangement of the text on the pages heightens young readers' interest consistently from the first page to the last, beginning sentences on one page and completing them on the next. The rhythmic pace of the book lends itself to repeated re-readings, while the colorful illustrations from a variety of perspectives invite close examination by young readers. From a bird's eye view of hitching a new load to the truck to a ground-level, around the corner view of the on-coming truck, there's plenty for kids to see in a new way. The tight lines and bright colors of the truck driver stuck in a traffic jam contrast dramatically with the wide expanse of rural green fields as the boy's father turns down the road for home.

Drive is a great choice for young readers, especially kids who are really into trucks of any kind. Clement's writing and illustrations allow the reader total immersion into the story, meeting young readers' interest with information about what truck drivers do.