ATVs and Off-roaders. (Vehicles on the Move). Lynn Peppas. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 32 pp., pbk. & hc., $10.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-3022-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3017-0 (RLB). Subject Headings: All terrain vehicles-Juvenile literature. Off-road vehicles-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Gail Hamilton. **/4
	Cranes. (Vehicles on the Move). Lynn Peppas. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 32 pp., pbk. & hc., $10.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-3023-1 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3018-7 (RLB). Subject Headings: Cranes, Derricks, etc.-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Gail Hamilton. **/4
	Monster Trucks. (Vehicles on the Move). Lynn Peppas. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 32 pp., pbk. & hc., $10.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-3024-8 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3019-4 (RLB). Subject Headings: Monster trucks-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Gail Hamilton. **/4
	Road Makers and Breakers. (Vehicles on the Move). Lynn Peppas. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 32 pp., pbk. & hc., $10.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-3025-5 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3020-0 (RLB). Subject Headings: Road machinery-Juvenile literature. Earthmoving machinery-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Gail Hamilton. **/4

excerpt:

A monster truck is a vehicle with giant wheels. A vehicle is a machine that carries people from one place to another. A monster truck has a body that looks like a pickup truck. A pickup truck has an open bed in the back of the vehicle.

A monster truck is big and powerful. They are fun vehicles to watch. They jump over and crush other vehicles such as old cars and buses. They show off their power in front of large crowds. They compete against other monster trucks. (From Monster Trucks.)

All terrain vehicles (ATVs) and off-road vehicles are designed to travel on natural surfaces, such as snow, sand and mud. They have deep-treaded tires or caterpillar tracks which enable them to go where most cars cannot. In ATVs and Off-roaders, readers will learn about the parts of an ATV, special off-road riding gear, different kinds of ATVs, and the various jobs that off-roaders do, some of which include cutting grass, plowing snow and moving light loads, as well as assisting the military in search and rescue missions and travelling on Mars to take photos for NASA. Examples of off-road vehicles featured in this title are sport ATVs, dirt bikes, UTVs (utility terrain vehicles), dune buggies, rovers, amphibious ATVs for travel on both land and water, snowmobiles and snowcats (used to smooth out ski and snowmobile trails). There are a couple of double-page spreads devoted to competitions such as motocross and other races, but the information in these sections is very brief.

      Powerful and versatile, cranes can be stationary or moveable and are used in a number of different settings. Cranes highlights the various types of cranes and the jobs that they do. In this title, there is a diagram showing the parts of a crane, followed by more specific information about the crane's strong arms and other special attachments that are required on some job sites, some examples of attachments, like buckets for lifting dirt, forklifts for stacking boxes, and outriggers (steel feet) that come out from the sides of a truck crane to keep it from rolling over. Topics in this title include railroad cranes that are used to load and unload cargo and lay new railroad tracks; floating cranes that build ships or lift sunken ships out of the water; tower cranes that lift heavy objects at construction sites; container cranes that move containers on shipping docks; and sky cranes, especially strong helicopters that lift heavy loads to the tops of buildings, lift trees from forests and help fight forest fires by carrying large water tanks and dropping water over the fires.

      With their over-sized pickup truck-style bodies and gigantic tires (up to 1.8 meters tall), monster trucks are custom made using heavy-duty materials that can withstand a lot of abuse. Readers will especially enjoy Monster Trucks because of the photographs of some of the unique painted designs on the vehicles. Some of the more famous monster trucks are: Jurassic Attack, which is painted to resemble a triceratops and has horns and a head frill; Monster Mutt, which looks like a dog and has ears that hang over its sides and a tongue that sticks out of the front; and Grave Digger, which has images of a skull, a graveyard and a haunted house painted on it. Topics in this title include monster truck parts, safety features, construction, costs, and the different types of monster truck competitions. Though stunts are mentioned, only one of them- a slap wheelie- is explained. Astute readers might pick up on the fact that it takes 30 liters of fuel to drive a monster truck a distance of 1.6 kilometers, making the gas-guzzling monster truck not exactly environmentally-friendly.

      It takes many different kinds of machines to build streets and highways. Road Makers and Breakers features a variety of vehicles that make concrete and asphalt roads. These vehicles are presented in sequence, beginning with excavators that break up the ground in preparation for a new road, and ending with line painters, vehicles which spray yellow or white paint onto the roads to create divisions between lanes. Double-page spreads are also devoted to backhoes, cranes, bulldozers, dump trucks, milling machines (for tearing up asphalt), soil compactors, scrapers, road graders, concrete mixers, pavers and road rollers. These spreads explain the specialized components of each of these machines as well as the jobs that they perform. The text is enhanced by bright, colour photographs of the entire vehicle, and, occasionally, photos showing a closeup view of a specific part.

      Among the titles, there is somewhat of an inconsistency in that some are more informative than others, while some are easier to comprehend than others. However, reluctant readers will enjoy these books as the minimal, simple text and the large illustrations work well in tandem.

Recommended.