I'm Fast!

The husband-and-wife team behind I Stink! and I'm Big! return to their vehicular roots as Red, a sports car, challenges a blue train to a race to Chicago. Loaded up with gravel, coils of steel, ice cream bars, and pizza fixings, the train speeds along, exuding cockiness. Reading like a blues refrain, the text chugs along with the gestural friends: "Wheels on the rails, all night long, / Racin' and a-rumblin' the freight train song--/ Chooka chooka chooka chooka." It's a rip-roaring ride for the automotive obsessed. Ages 4-8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Jan.)

PreS-Gr 2--Another surefire hit from this team about bold and brassy power-driven vehicles. Speed, not brawn, is the operative theme here as a freight train engine ("Chooka chooka chooka chooka") takes on a fancy red sports car's challenge ("VVRROOOOOMMMMMMMM") to race all the way from Sacramento to Chicago. Every inch of the spreads brims with color and energy as the vehicles hurtle cross-country, the train engine narrating the journey in simple, forceful language perfectly matched by expressive, large-font text that zooms and dances across the pages. Despite a full load of freight, desert heat, cows on the tracks, and a blizzard, the train whips past the coupe stopped at a railroad crossing and coasts into the Windy City first. In a sportsmanlike denouement, the roadster takes up the train's practical suggestion to hitch a ride back to Sacramento and is shown happily ensconced on the "auto-rack" car on the back jacket illustration. Clearly labeled names and functions of the many kinds of freight cars are embedded within the narrative, making this title a natural sequel to Donald Crews's classic Freight Train (Greenwillow, 1978). In a world of frequent fliers, this title is certain to pique the interest and imagination of young children as to the everyday workings of freight trains--and it takes them on a highly entertaining ride, too.--Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT

PreS-Gr 2--Another surefire hit from this team about bold and brassy power-driven vehicles. Speed, not brawn, is the operative theme here as a freight train engine ("Chooka chooka chooka chooka") takes on a fancy red sports car's challenge ("VVRROOOOOMMMMMMMM") to race all the way from Sacramento to Chicago. Every inch of the spreads brims with color and energy as the vehicles hurtle cross-country, the train engine narrating the journey in simple, forceful language perfectly matched by expressive, large-font text that zooms and dances across the pages. Despite a full load of freight, desert heat, cows on the tracks, and a blizzard, the train whips past the coupe stopped at a railroad crossing and coasts into the Windy City first. In a sportsmanlike denouement, the roadster takes up the train's practical suggestion to hitch a ride back to Sacramento and is shown happily ensconced on the "auto-rack" car on the back jacket illustration. Clearly labeled names and functions of the many kinds of freight cars are embedded within the narrative, making this title a natural sequel to Donald Crews's classic Freight Train (Greenwillow, 1978). In a world of frequent fliers, this title is certain to pique the interest and imagination of young children as to the everyday workings of freight trains--and it takes them on a highly entertaining ride, too.--Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT