The Smash! Smash! Truck by Aidan Potts

The Smash! Smash! Truck looks at the process of recycling glass, taking in a brief look at the Big Bang, atoms and the water cycle, to explain why recycling is a good idea.

The core idea of The Smash! Smash! Truck is a great one - fostering an interest in science and recyling is always a good thing. Tying in recycling to a wider understanding of how the world works is a great line to take, but it doesn't quite work as well as it could here: it feels like it's jumping too much from one subject to another. Although a short book like this is never going to be particularly detailed, there's not quite enough about recycling or atoms to really achieve what it sets out to do.

My old and tired eyes took a bit of a battering from the fluorescent yellows on every page - I wouldn't really want to look at the big 'smash' page without sunglasses! Aidan Potts (aka Professor Potts) has a fun and cartoony illustrative style, but it goes beyond being bright, bold and dramatic, to detracting from the content itself. Any parents reading it to or with their young 'uns would have an easier time if it had been dialled down a notch.

There is a clear target market for The Smash! Smash! Truck: it's perfect for children who are fairly new to reading themselves, prefer non-fiction to fiction, and love everything to be as bright and dramatic as possible. It's by no means a bad book, but I can't help but feel that with a few minor tweaks, it could have struck a chord with a wider range of children.

My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

Planet In Peril by Anita Ganeri and Mike Phillips is well worth a read for young eco warriors. 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh is aimed at slightly younger children, and Will Jellyfish Rule the World? by Leo Hickman for the older readers. Adults will love anything from Bookbag's Top Ten Green Books for Eco-Warriors.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Smash! Smash! Truck by Aidan Potts at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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