Junk Yard by Mike Austin-ADVISABLE

Austin, Mike Junkyard. PICTURE BOOK. Beach Lane Books, 2014. $16.99. “A yard full of junk! Piles of Junk! Junk as far as they eye can see- not even room for one little tree.” From rusty school busses to anchors and chains, the Munching Machines have a huge job of cleaning up heaps and stacks of junk.  They crunch, they chomp, they slurp and they sweep until all that remains is one little pile.  Now it’s time for something new! They plant flowers and trees and build a playground with slides, swings and tree forts.  They plant a garden, and make mountains for hiking and biking.  The Munching Machines create a magnificent playground and invite all to enjoy their new creation.  This book is written in rhyme and Austin does an incredible job making the story fun and interesting.  The illustrations are incredible!  Every detail is bright and fun.  Austin draws the reader into the story with bold colors.  The story is engaging and would inspire any clean-up project from a child cleaning his/her own room to a neighborhood clean-up. This book could be used in a unit on recycling or being environmentally friendly.  Pre-K. EL (K-3). ADVISABLE. Reviewer: SL