Review by New York Times Review
A terrific debut from Viva, an award-winning illustrator and frequent cover artist for The New Yorker, this sleek and stylish travelogue follows a lone cyclist on a continuous path that runs from first page to last. With the road a glossy ochre snaking through a matte four-color backdrop, the book has a distinctive look (and, to a toddler, feel). The cyclist's travels from seashore to cityscape and back will inspire both tricyclists and early riders to push on. RED WAGON, written and illustrated by Renala Liwska. 32 pp. Philomel. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 5) When Lucy, a wide-eyed fox with a pink ribbon, gets a brand-new wagon, all she wants to do is play. But first, her mother insists she take her wagon to the market to stock up. With help from her woodland friends, Lucy transforms chore into adventure: an unexpected downpour is reimagined as pirate-infested waters; the long trip runs through both the Old West and railroad country; and she market itself is a circus tent. With her softly fuzzy critters, Liwska ("The Quiet Book," "The Loud Book!") illustrates the triumph of imagination over impatience. CARS GALORE, by Peter Stein. Illustrated by Boh Staake. 32 pp. Candlewick. $15.99. (Picture book: ages 4 to 8) Like a rewed-up hybrid of Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks From A to Z" and P.D. Eastman's "Go, Dog. Go!" this book for those obsessed with all things automotive will also make them laugh. The rhyming text is upbeat and offbeat. "Jazz car, soul car, rock 'n' roll car. Blues car, song car. Sing-along car!" accompanies all manner of vehicles jammed with a saxophone-playing tiger, a kids' band , "The Spahhnkies" and a singer in a shoe-shaped car. (Ignore the ominous final line, "Someday YOU'LL drive!") NEW RED BIKE! written and illustrated by James E. Ransome. 32 pp. Holiday House. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Every child knows the fine line between a stolen bike and a "borrowed" one. Ransome, winner of a Coretta Scott King award for illustration, writes here about the joys of cycling and the perils of the lost bicycle, and ultimately about the rewards of sharing and riding hikes among friends. With sweet illustrations and simple text, the message will work especially well with the training-wheel set. TILLIE THE TERRIBLE SWEDE How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History. By Sue Stauffacher. Illustrated by Sarah McMenemy. 40 pp. Knopf. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 8) "In the old days, most girls came 10 America with a dream, but all Tillie Anderson had was a needle," begins this winning account of a Swedish immigrant who desires to cycle and to pedal fast - "the speedy, scorchy, racy kind of riding." Anderson, who went on to become the women's racing champion of the world, is a figure fit for admiration, and her story, set against the bicycle craze of the 1890s - and matched with superb illustrations - will rivet readers. WHEELS OF CHANGE How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way). By Sue Macy. Illustrated. 96 pp. National Geographic. $18.95. (Middle grade/young adult; ages 10 and up) "Let me tell you what I think of bicycling," Susan B. Anthony said in 1896. "I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world." In telling the interconnected stories of women's rights and women's cycling, Macy, the author of several nonfiction books profiling notable women, delivers a first-rate account. With archival photographs and reproductions of cycling posters, "Wheels" is as attractive and diverting as any "lady cyclist." PAMELA PAUL
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [May 15, 2011]
Review by Booklist Review
Descriptions of silly machines and rhythms with a catchy snap call to mind such iconic titles like P. D. Eastman's Go, Dog. Go! (1961), making this a book that begs to be read aloud multiple times: Honk cars! BEEP cars! / At-a-creep cars! / Miles of piles of / in-a-heap cars! Staake's bulbous vehicles, leaning forward with imagined speed, are populated with a variety of drivers and passengers, human and animal, complementing the rhymes. Their retro looks are graphically cool, par for the course for the illustrator of numerous New Yorker covers. Car-crazy kids can, and will, pore over the spreads, which feature novelty machines like a hundred-feet car, which features count 'em 100 feet of foot power. A rock 'n' roll car features a stage, while a blues car is, of course, blue. Meanwhile, it's fun to trace the roads, which include sharp intersections, sweeping curves, and rolling hills. Stein ends the fun with a tip toward young readers' futures: Someday YOU'LL drive! An appropriate conclusion for imaginative auto lovers.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This homage to the exuberant picture books of the 1960s (think P.D. Eastman) celebrates autos with unabashed pleasure. "Black car, green car,/ nice car, mean car,/ Whoa! Bizarre car!" Staake (The First Pup) creates a ludicrous menagerie of highly unconventional automobiles with dome windows, rocket engines, feet along the bottom like millipedes, and checkerboard doors, piloted by humans and animals of every age and stripe. (Noah's Ark even gets an automotive makeover, and the aforementioned "bizarre" car is adorned with wings, an umbrella, a jack-in-the-box, and a Viking helmet.) Black roads crisscross the pages, telephone wires obscure the view, and the roar of traffic is almost audible. Traffic jams, breakdowns, construction, carsickness ("Rusty, dusty,/ hunk-of-junk car./ Stinky, yucky,/ smells-like-a-skunk car")-none of it fazes Stein, who's unapologetic about the degree to which American society is dominated by cars. He even issues an invitation: "Fun drive, sun drive,/ Got-to-run drive!/ Dream drive, cool drive.../ Someday YOU'LL drive!" Add in the book's interactive seek-and-find dimension, and readers won't need much temptation to join a world that's this full of action. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Rhythmic verse and lively illustrations showcase autos of every color, size, style, and speed. "Cars and cars and/ yet still MORE cars!/Millions, billions, cars-GALORE cars!" Just when readers think there couldn't be any more variations, the text revs up with a new characteristic or action. The rhyme, similar to Patricia Hubbell's Cars: Rushing! Honking! Zooming! (Marshall Cavendish, 2006), cruises smoothly for the most part, changing from slow to fast lane with only a few bumps. The illustrator's familiar cartoon style easily matches the text. Crisp, clean lines and bright colors pop against the white background, while black traffic-filled roads crisscross and loop around the pages. Readers will eagerly search for and find every vehicle mentioned. Car-crazy kids will appreciate both the rhyme and the pictures.-Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Preschoolers roll toy cars on floors, line them up on windowsills, sleep with them, name them, love them, and read about these fascinating machines. A peppy, rhythmic text ("Black car, green car, / nice car, mean car. / Near car, far car. / Whoa! Bizarre car!") whizzes along beautifully with Staake's surreal illustrations of all kinds of cars. Here we find racing cars; new cars; junk cars; and amazing, never-before-seen cars: a Has-it-all-car with a grand piano, a bicycle, a gramophone, and even a whale; a Tall car that resembles a modern skyscraper; a Noah's Ark car with pairs of animals; and even an Igloo ice-fueled car. "Cars and cars and / yet still MORE cars! / Millions, billions, / cars-GALORE cars!" twist and turn on a black highway that snakes throughout the book. There are lots of opportunities for discovery here. Kids can find each named car, they can count the cars, they can name the creatures that inhabit them, or they can simply luxuriate in the joy of Staake's imagination. And then they can dream the biggest dream of all time: "Someday YOU'LL drive!" betty carter (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A wacky roadway of discovery awaits readers in Stein and Staake's affectionate tribute to the automobile and its infinite design possibilities. With Seusslike rhymes and silliness, they create a world of diverse vehicles, each an extension of its owner and an expression of individuality. Comical cars zoom by with playful text in tow: "Rusty, dusty, / hunk-of-junk car. / Stinky, yucky, / smells-like-a-skunk car." Staake anchors most illustrations with a black, energetic roadway full of merges, curves, loops and angles. Each spread contains an intriguing pattern, offering new objects for discovery with each turn of the page. Auto-lovers will adore his whimsical illustrationsdone in a '50s modern design aestheticof tractors, tow trucks, race and rocket cars, and all will find humor in his expressive characters. His sense of fun extends beyond fanciful car designs; readers will love spotting the occasional alligator, giraffe or rhino behind the wheel. The eminently chantable text will likely make this a fast favorite with lovers of things that go, so be ready for many round trips. One bright and lively ride.(Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
