Big trucks and a birthday surprise make this construction site treat an irresistible read-aloud, illustrated by a Caldecott Medalist! It’s Bulldozer’s big day—his birthday! But around the construction site, it seems like everyone is too busy to remember. Bulldozer wheels around asking his truck friends if they know what day it is, but they each only say it’s a work day. They go on scooping, sifting, stirring, filling, and lifting, and little Bulldozer grows more and more glum. But when the whistle blows at the end of the busy day, Bulldozer discovers a construction site surprise, especially for him!

A child runs through a spectrum of emotions on the best day of the year--their birthday! Early-morning excitement gives way to shyness at the arrival of guests, hunger for cake, a craze for arts and crafts, and some real piñata problems. So how can a kid possibly answer that age old question: "How does it feel to be a year older?"

It's Mr. Tortoise's birthday, and he can't wait to eat cake with his friends. But there's a hitch! Mr. Tortoise can't remember how old he is, so his friends don't know how many candles to put on the cake. And they won't stop (or slice) until they figure out the mystery. Could Mr. Tortoise be as many years old as there are sections on his shell? He's twice as big as the smaller tortoise . . . so is he twice as old? After the partygoers work through a variety of possibilities, they find their way to the answer with a simple bit of addition.