The Trucks That Saved Halloween: A Not-So-Spooky Halloween Book for Kids Who Love Trucks
The Trucks that Saved Halloween artwork from start to finish
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I have officially published THREE children’s books!
The Trucks That Saved Halloween is the newest adventure in The Trucks That Saved series, and I wrote it for the same reason I started this whole adventure in the first place: my boys.
I wanted to create books they would be excited to pull off the shelf again and again—full of the trucks they love, bright colors, silly little details, and stories about friendship and helping others.
And while I absolutely love how The Trucks That Saved Halloween turned out, I have to admit something:
This one was hard to write!
Get your copy - The trucks that Saved Halloween is AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 1st!
Coming Up With The Trucks That Saved Halloween
The idea for this book didn’t come together quite as easily as my previous stories.
I knew I wanted to write a Halloween book. We have a TON of Halloween books in our house, and I was so excited about the idea of adding one of my own to our Halloween library.
I also knew one thing from the very beginning:
I wanted to dress the trucks up in costumes.
I could picture Dump Truck, Excavator, Crane Truck and their friends dressed up for Halloween, and the idea made me so happy.
But…what were they actually going to do?
Some of my favorite fall memories are going to the pumpkin patch and attending the carnival at my best friend’s school. I love everything about that classic fall festival feeling—the pumpkins, games, treats, decorations and especially the tractor ride.
My mom was actually the one who suggested that the trucks could build a carnival.
And I thought…why not build one for Halloween?!
Suddenly, I had my setting.
There was just one problem.
Were the Carnival and Costumes Two Different Books?
For a while, it really felt that way!
I had one story about the Truck Team building this amazing Halloween carnival, and another story in my head about all of the trucks choosing silly Halloween costumes.
I loved both ideas and didn’t want to give either one up.
But getting them to feel like one story instead of two stories smashed together was surprisingly difficult.
I tinkered. And rewrote. And moved things around. And tinkered some more.
Eventually, everything clicked.
The trucks could work together to transform an old farm into a cheerful Halloween carnival—and then, before it was time to truck-or-treat, there was one more problem to solve.
Crane Truck couldn’t decide what to be for Halloween!
That finally gave me a way to bring the carnival, the costumes, the friendship story and the Halloween fun together.
And I got to dress up my trucks after all.
Sketch of Dump Truck dressed as a Vampire for Halloween
Creating a Bright, Colorful Halloween
Once I had the story figured out, I couldn’t wait to start working on the illustrations.
Fall is SO much fun to draw.
I knew I wanted this book to have tons of beautiful fall colors—bright orange pumpkins, golden leaves, reds and yellows—but I also wanted it to feel different from the other books in the series.
So I brought in more pinks and purples.
The story starts in a bright autumn afternoon and gradually moves toward a colorful Halloween evening filled with pink, lavender, purple and blue instead of becoming dark or scary.
That was really important to me.
I wanted Halloween to look magical, colorful and fun.
My sketches and colors needed to make me happy—and hopefully make little kids happy when they turn the pages too!
Of Course There Had to Be a Tractor Ride
One of my absolute favorite things to do at the pumpkin patch is the tractor ride, so there was no way I was making a Halloween carnival without one.
The farm became such a fun backdrop for the story.
There are pumpkins, hay bales, fall trees, a red barn, a corn maze and all those little things that remind me of going to the pumpkin patch in the fall.
It was so much fun getting to create my version of the perfect kid-friendly Halloween carnival.
Colorful cauldron element from The Trucks that Saved Halloween
The Little Details Are My Favorite Part
Some of my favorite parts of the book probably aren’t the things most people will notice first.
They’re the tiny details I added for my boys.
At one point, a leaf lands right on Crane Truck’s nose.
It makes my little one laugh, so of course it stayed.
There’s also some silly witch’s brew involved—including stinky socks.
Why stinky socks?
Because taking off our shoes and joking about everyone’s stinky feet is apparently hilarious in our house.
And the potion colors?
Blue and green, because those are my boys’ favorite colors.
Those are the kinds of details I love sneaking into these books. They may seem completely random to everyone else, but I know exactly why they’re there.
Princess Monster Truck sketch for The Trucks that Saved Halloween
Adding a Princess Monster Truck
One of my son’s friends had a very important request when she heard about the book:
It needed a princess!
And she was right.
So I added a Princess Monster Truck.
I loved getting to bring another girl character into the Truck Team world while still keeping everything silly, colorful and truck-filled.
Because princesses and monster trucks absolutely belong in the same book.
“Truck-or-Treat!”
Another idea I knew I wanted to use was truck-or-treating.
It’s such a simple little play on “trick-or-treat,” but it felt perfect for the world of the Truck Team.
It also helped me make the Halloween celebration feel especially fun and approachable for toddlers and preschoolers.
Instead of making Halloween about things being frightening, I wanted the story to focus on the parts little kids tend to love: costumes, pumpkins, candy, friends, silly surprises and getting to celebrate together.
Ice Cream Truck sketch as a witch for Halloween
My Favorite New Character: Witch Ice Cream Truck
Okay, I might have saved my favorite part for last.
I turned Ice Cream Truck into a witch.
And I LOVE her.
I knew immediately that I wanted her Halloween colors to include pink and green, which is a color combination I’ve loved forever.
There’s actually a very random childhood reason for that.
My bedroom growing up was pink, and I had a pink-and-green Laura Ashley comforter with a matching border around the room. Apparently that color combination stuck with me because all these years later, here I am putting it on a witch ice cream truck!
She has a giant floppy witch hat, pink details, a broom, Halloween treats and a candy-filled cauldron.
But there was one more thing she absolutely needed:
A black cat.
I LOVE cats, and I had a couple of black cats growing up, so there was really no question about whether my Halloween book needed one.
Of course it did.
Witch Ice Cream Truck ended up becoming one of my favorite characters I’ve created. She’s colorful and sweet and just the right amount of witchy without being scary.
Ice Cream Truck as a witch from The Trucks that Saved Halloween
A Halloween Book for Little Truck Lovers
At its heart, The Trucks That Saved Halloween is about the same things I want all of my Truck Team stories to celebrate: friendship, teamwork, helping others and having fun together.
Dump Truck, Excavator and Crane Truck realize that Halloween needs a little help, so they do what the Truck Team does best:
They get to work.
Together they transform an old farm into a cheerful Halloween carnival filled with rides, games, pumpkins, a corn maze and plenty of treats.
And when Crane Truck needs a little help of his own, his friends are there for him too.
It’s a Halloween story filled with construction trucks, costumes and plenty of silly Halloween magic—without making Halloween too scary for little readers.
The Trucks That Saved Halloween
is especially fun for kids who love:
Construction trucks
Dump trucks, excavators and cranes
Halloween and costumes
Pumpkin patches
Tractors and hayrides
Carnivals and fall festivals
Candy and Halloween treats
Bright, colorful picture books
Silly, not-too-spooky Halloween stories
Friendship and teamwork
It’s written especially with young truck lovers and preschool-age kids in mind.
Three Books!
It still feels a little surreal to say that.
What started with me wanting to make something special for my boys has turned into three books, and seeing these characters continue to have new adventures has been so much fun.
And this book may have been the hardest one for me to figure out, but that almost makes me love it even more.
There were so many moments when I couldn’t quite figure out how the carnival and costume stories belonged together.
Now I can’t imagine the book without either one.
And after all that tinkering, I’m thrilled that The Trucks That Saved Halloween finally gets to join the very large stack of Halloween books we pull out every fall.
Only now, one of them is ours. 📚🎃🚜
Where to Buy The Trucks That Saved Halloween
The Trucks That Saved Halloween is part of The Trucks That Saved children’s book series and is perfect for little readers who love trucks, Halloween and colorful adventures.
Get your copy - The trucks that Saved Halloween is AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 1st!
And if this is your first adventure with the Truck Team, you can also meet Dump Truck, Excavator, Crane Truck and their friends in The Trucks That Saved the Park.
Happy truck-or-treating! 🎃
The Trucks that Saved Series and Activity Books
