PEORIA, AZ — A Peoria teenager who grew up with a love for garbage trucks has published a book about a career that can oftentimes be a "thankless" one.
Benji Cocking, 13, just had his own book Benji’s Garbage Trucks published last week and it's now being sold on Amazon and in Barnes & Noble.
Cocking grew up in Peoria where he knew each garbage truck and driver on his route and would wait to see them weekly.
“He was so excited when he was young,” explained his grandmother Roberta Cocking.
Roberta tells ABC15 her grandson was so mesmerized by trucks that he would play with, but she said he was disappointed that there were not many children’s books with real-life images of the trucks.
Roberta and her grandson, age six at the time, decided they would make their own book showcasing real-life garbage trucks from around the country, and even the world.
The book starts off with a focus in Peoria.
“It says these are some pictures of garbage trucks that come to my city, Peoria, Arizona,” Cocking said while reading the beginning.
The Waste Management division at the City of Peoria stopped by on Wednesday to celebrate Cocking’s book that was just published, in a garbage truck of course.
Now that Cocking is older, he has a different admiration for the large trucks, like how they work and operate.
The paperback book is sold on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $15.00.
“Our goal in writing this book was to make little boys happy that like the garbage trucks as much as Benji did when he was little,” wrote his grandmother in a social media post.
Roberta says the feedback isn’t just from little boys loving the book, but little girls who love the garbage trucks as well.