Mike Dutton

Food truck workers prepare for a food truck festival, while a family prepare to attend the festival. The bridge is closed due to turtles (?!?) so everyone has to take the ferry, but they still get to the festival and have a great time serving and eating lots of different kinds of food.

So specific and very cute. There’s a running gag of the baby of the family missing their shoe, and in the background you can see the cat playing with the shoe. I loved the sense of community, going to an urban street festival, and also things going wrong and everyone just working around it (the closed bridge and the missing baby shoe, to be specific).… (more)

With rhyming text and bright illustrations, author/artist team Alexandra Penfold and Mike Dutton create an engaging picture-book celebration of food trucks, and the annual festival held to highlight their delicious goods. "Over at the depot and up with the sun, / the food trucks get ready. Today will be fun!" So begins this story, which emphasizes both the hard work done by the food truck proprietors and the enjoyment experienced by their customers...

Having co-authored an adult book about the food trucks of New York (New York a la Cart: Recipes and Stories from the Big Apple's Best Food Trucks), it should come as no surprise to find that Penfold has turned to that subject in Food Truck Fest!, her fourth picture-book for young children. Her rhyming text is engaging, making for an excellent read-aloud selection, while Dutton's bright and colorful artwork captures the excitement and fun of the day being described. Recommended to all little foodies, and to anyone looking for entertaining picture-books in rhyme.… (more)