Goodnight,

Goodnight,

Construction Site

Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

For one blue-eyed boy and one brown-eyed boy and the world of wonder and possibility I see through their eyes. And, always, for Faith.

—S. R.

To Jan, for sharing a dream.—T. L.

Table of Contents

Goodnight, Goodnight, Contruction Site

About the Author

Copyright

Goodnight, Goodnight,

Construction Site

Down in the big construction site,

The tough trucks work with all their might To build a building, make a road,

To get the job done—load by load!

The sun has set, the work is done;

It’s time for trucks to end their fun.

So one by one they’ll go to bed

To yawn and rest their sleepy heads,

Then wake up to another day

Of rough-and-tough construction play!

Working hard to help his team,

Crane Truck raises one last beam.

Reaching, stretching, lifting high,

He swings the beam into the sky.

He’ll set it down right on its mark,

Then off to bed; it’s almost dark.

He slowly folds his boom back in,

And then with one last sleepy grin,

He tucks himself in nice and tight ( sigh! ), Then cuddles up and says goodnight.

Shh…goodnight, Crane Truck, goodnight.

Spinning, churning all day long,

Cement Mixer sings his whirly song.

Now ( yawn! ) he’s weary and so dizzy,

From the fun that keeps him busy.

With one last spin, he pours the load.

He’s ready now to leave the road.

He takes a bath, gets shiny-bright,

Pulls up his chute, turns off his light.

He cuts his engine, slows his drum,

And dreams sweet dreams of twirly fun.

Shh…goodnight, Cement Mixer, goodnight.

Dump Truck loves to work and haul.

He carries loads both big and small,

He moves the dirt from place to place, Then dumps it with a happy face.

One final load spills on the heap ( crrrunch! ); Now Dump Truck’s tired and wants to sleep.

He lowers his bed, locks his gate,

Rests his wheels; it’s getting late.

He dims his lights, then shuts his doors, And soon his engine slows to snores.

Shh…goodnight, Dump Truck, goodnight.

Pushing with his mighty blade,

Bulldozer works to smooth the grade.

He clears the way to level ground,

And fills the air with thunderous sound ( rooaaar! ).

No one’s as tough and strong as he,

But now he’s sleepy as can be.

He puffs some smoke out of his stack, Turns off his engine, stops his track.

He curls into his soft dirt bed

And dreams of busy days ahead.

Shh…goodnight, Bulldozer, goodnight.

Scooping gravel, dirt, and sand,

Excavator shapes the land.

He digs and lifts throughout the day ( arrgh! ), But now it’s time to end his play.

A few more holes to dig and soon

He’ll roll to bed beneath the moon.

He twirls upon his bumpy track,

Pulls up his boom, stretches his back.

He sets his scoop down on the ground

And snuggles up without a sound.

Shh…goodnight, Excavator, goodnight.

These big, big trucks, so tough and loud, They work so hard, so rough, and proud.

Tomorrow is another day,

Another chance to work and play.

Turn off your engines, stop your tracks, Relax your wheels, your stacks, and backs.

No more huffing and puffing, team:

It’s time to rest your heads and dream.

Construction site, all tucked in tight, The day is done, turn off the light.

Great work today!

Now…shh…goodnight.

About the Author

SHERRI DUSKEY RINKER lives in Chicago with her photographer husband and two energetic, inquisitive sons: one fascinated by bugs and magic, and the other by trucks and trains. She’s constantly inspired and often exhausted. She created this goodnight story in hopes of happier bedtimes and sweet dreams for all.

TOM LICHTENHELD is the illustrator of New York Times best-sellers Duck!Rabbit!, created with Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and Shark vs. Train, created with Chris Barton. He has also written and illustrated many popular titles, including What Are You So Grumpy About? and Bridget’s Beret.

See all of his books at www.tomlichtenheld.com.

Copyright

Text © 2011 by Sherri Duskey Rinker.

Illustrations © 2011 by Tom Lichtenheld.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rinker, Sherri Duskey.

Goodnight, goodnight, construction site / by Sherri Duskey Rinker; illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld.

p. cm.

Summary: At sunset, when their work is done for the day, a crane truck, a cement mixer, and other pieces of construction equipment make their way to their resting places and go to sleep.

ISBN 978-0-8118-7782-4 (alk. paper)

[1. Stories in rhyme. 2. Construction equipment—Fiction. 3. Trucks—

Fiction.] I. Lichtenheld, Tom, ill. II. Title.

PZ8.3.R48123Goo 2011

[E]—dc22

2010025008

Book design by Tom Lichtenheld and Amelia May Anderson.

The illustrations in this book were rendered in Neocolor wax oil pastels on Mi-Teintes paper.

Jacket illustrations © 2011 by Tom Lichtenheld.

Jacket design by Jan Miller, Tom Lichtenheld, and Amelia May Anderson.

Chronicle Books LLC

680 Second Street,

San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclekids.com

Document Outline

Title Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

About the Author

Copyright