Crunch! Kaboom!

Crunch! Kaboom! is a great read aloud for a classroom environment and a wonderful book for FIFO families that provides plenty of opportunity to discuss machines, different industries and transport, and highlights the contribution of our mining industry.

The Children's Book Council of Australia

Mutton’s illustrations explode off the page in wild reds, oranges, blues and yellows. The iron ore mine feels so real and colorful, it’s like a toy box jumped up and drew itself! The pictures are big, bold and perfect for little hands (and big imaginations).

Better Reading

Crunch! Kaboom! by Conor Mills and Clodagh Starr is a wonderfully onomatopoeic exploration of what happens on a mine site and is quintessentially West Australian in its colour palette. Illustrator Alison Mutton vividly captures the iconic landscape of the iron ore industry from the bright blue sky to the acres of rusty red dirt punctuated by the bright yellow pops of hi-vis gear. The journey from drilling and extraction to the steel mill and final product with its myriad uses in our daily lives reads like an exciting story but is filled with facts and sophisticated vocabulary which young readers will simply inhale. Sure to be a huge hit in every FIFO household this book is not only educational but great fun. Highly recommended.

The Children's Book Council of Australia (WA Branch)

This wonderful children’s picture book is a must read aloud! It’s big and loud and perfect for kids who love trucks and excavators.

With bright colours, enormous machines and lots of fun sounds to crunch, shake, dig and explode.

Little Squirrel Book Shelf

CRUNCH! KABOOM! MIGHTY Mining Machines is a book of enormous engines and lots of sounds. A picture book that is engaging, inspiring and will keep young readers connected and understanding how the process of an iron ore mine operates in Western Australia from start to finish as well as all the big and mighty machines.

With rhyming text, full page illustrations that are bright, descriptive and interactive for children this book has it all and will educate children on mining life, massive machines that BLAST, DRILL and DIG and also staying connected.

It's a Librarian Life

The in-depth look at all the different machines used in the mining industry was so impressive to read, I thought I had an idea about the processes but clearly there is so much involved.

The fun use of language is informative, without being overwhelming and will hook young readers who love trucks, trains and all the machines in between.

This one will definitely be a favourite with preschool and infants students.

Telarah Public School Library

Giant sound words are spread across the pages – Crrr-unch! Ka-Boom! Ba-Ba! Ba-Ba-Ba! Chugga-Sploosh! Chugga- Spoosh! Boom Boom Boom, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and lots more. What fun to make all those sounds together! The reader, while making all these sounds learns about the many types of vehicles used: drill rig, an MMU (mobile mixing unit), grader, excavator, a crusher, and the many different processes the iron ore undergoes before it is ready to be transported by train to the coast, where ships are waiting to take it all over the world.

A must for school libraries and anyone who enjoys finding out more about BIG NOISY machines.

Story Links

All about the mining process, this awesome picture book is filled with incredible facts and information about the process of mining with amazing machines. Filled with onomatopoeia this book is a delight to read aloud with kids. It’s absolutely perfect for kids that love construction vehicles.

Get Kids Booked

This is a brilliant book. Books on trucks and diggers are always popular in the library, but this one is different. Fabulously written, the language bounces off the page, the rhyme and alliteration are great fun, but the changing fonts and size of the text reflecting the sounds involved are brilliant.

This is bound to be an absolute hit in the library. Highly recommend.

10 Hippo Reads