Read, Discuss, Do with The Tractor Squad
Review and Story Time with The Tractor Squad by Heather D. Torres and Gary Laib
The Tractor Squad is a new book by Heather D. Torres, illustrated by Gary Laib. With two stories in one book, it is sure to delight young readers, particularly those who love farms or tractors, with two charming stories that take a peek into the secret lives of tractors! The first story, The Tractor Jig, is about all the hard work the tractors do throughout the day, and how they celebrate with a “tractor jig” at the end of the day. The second, patterned after Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, is Ten Busy Tractors, a count-down story featuring ten busy tractors and the mishaps that have the farmer sending each tractor back to the shed one by one. A fun book to add to any home or school library!
Read: The Tractor Squad by Heather D. Torres, illustrated by Gary Laib
Discuss:
Which of the two stories in the book is your favorite?
If you worked on a farm, which job would you want to help with? Why?
Have you ever sat on a tractor or gotten to ride on one? Or maybe drive one?
What do you think farm life is really like? What kinds of work do tractors actually do?
Do: Make tractors out of construction paper shapes!
Cut several shapes—rectangles, squares, circles—from construction paper. Make the shapes all different sizes. Be sure to cut some circles out of black for the tires!
Arrange the shapes until they resemble a tractor. You can use the tractors from the book as a reference if you need to. Try making a few different types of tractors.
Optional: For a more permanent craft, glue your tractor onto a sheet of paper and use crayons or markers to draw the farm in the background.
More activity ideas:
Act out parts of the story with toy tractors
Make a tractor out of Lego or other construction toys