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| Maybe we wouldn't mind the morning commute if it was this colourful! |
We love cars and trucks and things that go though, so we're going to kick off our vehicular week with lots and lots of lovely wheels.
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| "Toot Toot Beep Beep" by Emma Garcia. Wonderful wheels! |
"Toot Toot Beep Beep" by Emma Garcia is a short but very sweet little book that shows off lots of different vehicles, and is illustrated in Emma's fabulous child-friendly 'cut out and paint' style (which makes it an utterly fabulous book to inspire you to make your own vehicles in a similar way!) All the cars and vans in a busy town all hit the road in style, and spend all day driving around. But what happens to cars at night?
It goes without saying that Charlotte loves the big pink stretch limo in this book, and I love the groovy green VW camper van (or possibly the red jeep). Fabulous characterful cars and vans, with a great bouncy story more suited to younger readers (but still excellent fun for five year olds too!)
Emma's other books are great, we also have...
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| "Tip Tip, Dig Dig" by Emma Garcia. Let's build a park! |
"Tip Tip Dig Dig" which is brilliant for girls and boys who love their busy vehicles when they're shifting earth, rolling roads or tipping up.
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| "Cars Galore" by Peter Stein and Bob Staake. Bliss! |
"Cars Galore" by Peter Stein and Bob Staake is most definitely our type of book. There are so many brilliant and crazy vehicles in this book with a fantastic rhyming story to accompany the inventive and zany designs Bob comes up with here. Crazy crocs driving pink limos, school buses packed with smiling kids, even a spooky funeral director's car, there's a ton to love about this book and it's chock full of lovely little details.
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| "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go" by Richard Scarry. Croc cars! |
The man who pretty much wrote the perfect whacky vehicles book is Richard Scarry. I mean who else could put corn-cob cars into his work, or cars shaped like pickles and crocodiles?
"Cars and Trucks and Things that Go" by Richard Scarry sets the bar ludicrously high for others to follow. The many animal characters all have their favourite methods of transport, and the book is fizzing with busy action and detail throughout. Again, if you had vehicles like these on the roads, surely it would make driving so much more pleasurable?
We'll end our mini roundabout roundup with a recent but utterly fabulous book...
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| "Dixie O'Day in the Fast Lane" by Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy. Automotive perfection! |
"Dixie O'Day in the Fast Lane" was quite rightly book of the week recently, and it's not surprising! It's automotive perfection. Dixie and Percy zoom around in a fabulous Ford Zephyr, and though their car isn't the most reliable around, it's perfect for picnics and even the odd spot of racing.
Dixie's neigbour, the rather caddish Lou Ella, always has the swishest car and the fanciest frocks - and is determined to stop at nothing when a local race event is announced. The format of this book, the exquisite storytelling and of course the brilliant and wonderful vehicles drawn so masterfully by Clara really make this a treat.
We'd love to hear your recommendations - so please do pop a comment in the box below, and tell us which four (or more) wheeled favourites grace your bookshelves!