Growing up in the transportation industry, Hannah MacDonald-Dannecker watched her grandfather and uncle work behind the wheel, which she says shaped her deep respect for truck drivers and their sacrifices. However, not all children experience that first-hand and get to understand the value truck drivers bring to their communities.

“Everything I can see, everything I can truly touch and hold — it first arrived on a truck,” she said during a recent conversation with TruckNews.com. “But nobody knows about that. Nobody talks about that.”

This is why in her newly released children’s book MacDonald-Dannecker shares what truck driving means with younger generations. “I grew up with this concept of, ‘Let’s revolutionize the way that people see drivers,'” she said when asked about the motivation for the book.

Making it Move: Wonder Workshop, dedicated to MacDonald-Dannecker’s grandfather, follows a story of a young girl who discovers that her father — who leaves for work every night — is a truck driver. With her mom, she embarks on a journey to discover the importance of his job. The book highlights drivers’ challenges, such as weather and traffic, while emphasizing their role in ‘making everything move.’

“I had been thinking about [the book] for probably six or seven months at that point and just couldn’t figure out how to keep the respect for the drivers [and challenges they face], while also interesting the kids,” MacDonald-Dannecker recalled, saying the breakthrough finally came this summer. “I came up with the concept of the Wonder Workshop. I was like, ‘Just put them in a little ship, just send them away through an imagination land’ … As soon as I thought about the Wonder Workshop, the rest of it immediately unraveled.”

One of the goals was also to inspire children to see careers not just as responsibilities but as opportunities.

“I think most adults have it wrong — the way that we communicate about careers with our kids. Oftentimes we talk about careers with our children as responsibilities, which they are, let’s be very frank…, but there are also incredible opportunities, and we don’t always explain that to children,” MacDonald-Dannecker explained, adding that such perspective will help kids grow up with a more positive outlook on work and set them up for success.

The book also challenges some of the common stereotypes, from a nine-to-five job concept to trucking itself. “The truck was beautiful [and pink]. It could be loved by anyone. It wasn’t green, it wasn’t blue—any little boy, any little girl, anybody could really like that. Then the dad, he went to work at night. He went to work in the evening [instead of a nine-to-five].” The story ends with a teaser for the next book, which will feature the girl’s mother in a leadership role in the industry.

 “I would love it to be an insanely large series. I’ve got crazy dreams for it,” MacDonald-Dannecker said, adding that she hopes to spotlight more skilled trades in the future.

For now, however, she is focused on spreading the word about the book and continuing her advocacy for truck drivers: “I just want people to know how amazing truck drivers are, and I want people to share with their kids how amazing truck drivers are.”

Planting the idea of trucking as a career into kids’ minds can also contribute to attracting younger generations into the industry.

During last year’s Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada conference,  MacDonald-Dannecker said that children start forming career hopes by the time they turn five years old and begin solidifying those ideas as they grow older. By the time they reach their teens, they are already making decisions about which courses to take in high school, which eventually determine their college and career options.