Pick of the Day: Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (DVD)

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. DVD. 8 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-50221-4. $59.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-50223-8: $29.95; CD, ISBN 978-0-545-50222-1: $12.95.
PreS-K–Dramatically narrated by Dion Graham, Sherri Duskey Rinker’s story (Chronicle Books, 2011) of a crane, a cement mixer, a dump truck, a bulldozer, and an excavator at work on a city construction site winding down for the night is soothingly charming. Graham gives each machine a distinctive voice, and makes the most of every crunch, roar, and snore in the author’s rhyming text. The accompanying music by Jon Carroll begins jauntily as each machine performs one last task and then slows to appropriate bedtime pace as it gets ready for sleep. The video is true to Tom Lichtenheld’s wonderful illustrations with expressive, anthropomorphic faces for the trucks, a glorious sunset in tones of red, and a smiling moon overseeing the bedtime preparations. The warmth of the colors, the fading light, the moonlight, and the star captured by Crane Truck for a night light make for a cozy antithesis to a normal construction site. The most special moments from the book that are brought to life with animation are when the Crane Truck snuggles his teddy bear close and when a sleepy neighbor yells out the window, “Pipe down!” to the powerfully snoring Dump Truck. Subtitles are optional. Both the video and audio productions are superior versions of an exceptional picture book.–Constance Dickerson, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, OH