Skid & the Too Tiny Tunnel - Jeffery Stoddard

Summary: A story of courage based on Deuteronomy 3:16

Skid, the littlest yellow tractor in the equipment yard, wants to be mighty like the giant bulldozers, tall cranes and massive diggers who tower over him. But some of the big machines tell him he is just a dinky tractor with a putt-putt engine. While they are busy building a new road through the mountain, Skid is left behind to take out the garbage.

When disaster strikes and a tunnel the machines are digging collapses, Pillar, the biggest bulldozers, is trapped in the rubble. Only a small opening remains at the tunnel entrance and the only one who can fit through the opening is Skid--who is afraid of the dark.

Now it's up to the tiniest tractor to save the day. Can Skid find the courage to do what he was made to do and prove that he doesn't have to be big to be mighty? (Summary from book - Image from walmart.com)

My Review: I received a digital copy of this book for review and read it to my children (ages 4 and 6) this morning while they were supposed to be eating their cereal. It didn’t take long before the cereal was soggy and their little minds were fully absorbed in Skid’s little predicament. When we finished the story and I asked them what they thought, they were both emphatic that it was "a really cool story". We talked briefly about how Skid did what he was made to do even when he was afraid and that what he had thought was a bad thing was actually what made him special.

Skid & the Too Tiny Tunnel manages to teach a spiritual principle with a gentle hand -- without being pushy or overly explanatory. It can be read with a deeper meaning but, for those who aren’t of a religious bent, can simply be a well-illustrated book about a courageous tractor that learns his own worth. I really appreciated this book because I have a six-year-old daughter who has always been a little on the small side. My four year old is only millimeters away from surpassing her in height and has already passed her on the scale. Sometimes she gets worried about being smaller than others (especially when they tell her she is) and it was nice to see her eyes light up as I read. I could see the wheels turning in her head as she drew the parallels between Skid's size and fears and her own.

There are so many books out there that teach the wrong message, or don’t teach any message at all. It is nice to find a morally based children’s book that offers teaching moments and is both engaging and uplifting.

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My Rating: 4.5 Stars. The only thing that could have made it better would be if it had rhymed.

Sum it up: Skid & the Too Tiny Tunnel teaches the value of courage, self-worth, and the importance of trusting in the Lord to make us “mighty” in the face of our fears.