Behind the stories
About The Green Machines
The Green Machines is a series of children's picture books written by David Woods. Each book is about one helpful vehicle with a big personality, living in and around the English village of Little Muddlebury. Every character is based on a real classic military vehicle, and every book ends with a page of true facts about it.
Written by David Woods
The Green Machines is written by David Woods. The text and illustrations are copyright David Woods 2026.
About David Woods
David Woods has spent more than twenty-five years around classic military vehicles. He runs Military Mart, an army surplus business that has traded since 1999 from shops in Lancashire and North Wales, and has hired vehicles out for television, film and promotional work.
The Green Machines began with a simple idea: that the trucks, jeeps and scout cars he knows so well each have a personality of their own. Every character is based on a real vehicle, and every book ends with true facts about it, so children who love the stories can go and find the real thing at a show or a museum.
Little Muddlebury is make-believe, but some of its villagers are not. Several are based on members of David's own family.
A village full of stories
Series One has 12 books so far: Harry, Danny, Kitty, Dinky, Foxy, Fiona, Denise, Willy, Quack, Scamp, Old Charlie and Gamma. Marty is Book Thirteen, and more are on the way. There are 38 machines in the village, and each one is due a book of its own.
An animated series based on the books is in development, starting with Harry. Media and broadcast enquiries are welcome at hello@thegreenmachinesbooks.co.uk.
Real vehicles, real facts
Yes. Every Green Machine is based on a real vehicle, from the Willys Jeep and the Humvee to the Chieftain and the DUKW. Each character page on this site and the last page of each book gives true facts about the real vehicle.
Eyes on the windscreen, never in the headlamps. Mouth on the grille or bumper. Rosy cheeks. Real markings kept as decoration: stars, roundels and registration plates. Painted in loose watercolour over fine ink line, among hedgerows, poppies, dry-stone walls and church spires.
A note about the vehicles
The Green Machines is a work of fiction. Vehicle names are trademarks of their respective owners and are used only to describe the real vehicles the characters are based on. The Green Machines is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any vehicle manufacturer. Makers' badges and logos have been left out of the artwork.