This book tells a story about a man that works as a digger in construction for his job. He has 5 tasks to complete to get his work done. He finishes his work and goes home, but loves his job and digging so much that he still in his own garden. This is a good example of love what you do. The pictures and story work great together and tell a good story. ( )

The story follows Mr. Rally and his dog, Lightning as they travel the town on a big yellow digging machine, taking care of five important jobs. ( )

I'm always looking for good machine books for my voracious truck fans. I checked out Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha's Dig!, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal, to see how it measured up.

The text is excellent, with a strong rhythm children will enjoy participating in, and plenty of repetition. The illustrations of Mr. Rally, his dog Lightning, and his "big yellow backhoe" are brisk and cheerful.

Unfortunately, they're also very confusing. Mr. Rally's first job, "a bridge on the ridge" makes no sense - I've stared at the illustration for quite a while and still can't figure out what he's doing. In his second job, "a drain for the rain", he appears to have moved an entire house?? The third and fourth jobs are much simpler, although one can't help but notice that Rosenthal opts out of the whole "how did Mike Mulligan get out of the hole" dilemma by only showing half the swimming pool. Finally, the fifth job, leveling ground for a zoo, leaves the ground apparently as lumpy as before.

Verdict: This was a good concept and well-designed, but the illustrations falls short.

ISBN: 978-0152167851; Published May 2004 by Harcourt; Borrowed from the library