I Stink!, 2002) stalls with their sixth title, which stars an uber-confident train that accepts a challenge to race an equally self-assured sports car. Before the trek from Sacramento to Chicago can begin, the freight is loaded with a boisterous call-and-response rhythm: "LUMBER? FLATCAR! YARD CREW? Hop to! / BRICKS? GONDOLA! STEEL? COIL CAR! GAS? TANK CAR! // GRAVEL BIN? Open the HATCH! HOPPER? Catch!" Then they are off: the car vrooming and the train hurtling with a "Chooka chooka chooka chooka." The freight train impresses as it tunnels through rock, plows through snow and zooms past traffic, all the while pulling cars full of everything from frozen treats to pizza ingredients. The illustrations have a pleasingly retro touch. The sleek, red car contrasts nicely with the hulking, bright-blue mass of the freight engine as they traverse full-bleed spreads drenched in saturated colors of the landscape. Words flash in various bright hues accenting the many sound effects that comprise most of the frenetic text. This textual energy works well from a compositional standpoint, but it does pose difficulties for reading aloud. This, combined with a certain sense of overfamiliarity, keeps the book from rising to the top. Preschoolers will most likely warm to the good-natured competition between car and train, and parents and teachers will appreciate the friendly conclusion. But for those looking for a standout title in the multitude of things-that-go stories, there is little here that would warrant a repeat journey. (Picture book. 3-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

With a Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrum, a red sports car challenges a train engine to a race. But first the train loads lumber on the flatcar, bricks in the gondola, steel on the coil car, gas in the tank car, and gravel in the hopper. Once the engine builds up speed, there is no stopping him. He takes tunnels through mountains and warns cows off the track. Even city traffic (including the red car) halts while he chugs to his destination. The mighty engine politely offers the sports car a ride back. On the checkerboard endpapers and throughout the story, the engine is Mr. Personality: big, confident, and friendly. The text moves along in a satisfying way, though interruptions can be expected, as kids stop the action to identify the cars and their contents again and again. Featuring big, bold images, the artwork creates a strong thrust from left to right in nearly every scene while adding plenty of variation and visual interest along the way. Train fans will love this.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist

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 (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A train engine is the big talker in the McMullans' latest vehicles-with-attitude tale (see I Stink!, rev. 5/02). Challenged to a race from Sacramento to Chicago by a red sports car, the engine is ready for action -- just as soon as the freight is loaded. "Yard Crew? Hop to! Lumber? Flatcar! Bricks? Gondola! Steel? Coil car!" The staccato text is as peppy as always and embellished with onomatopoeia like the "chooka chooka chooka" rhythm the train makes once up and running. Jim McMullan makes terrific use of the broad horizontal spreads to show the beauty and challenge of the journey. Our dauntless blue narrator masters the landscape, which changes from desert sun to blizzard in a single page turn, better than the sports car: while the train careens through a tunnel, the car must take the windy road over the mountain. The car ends up stuck at a railroad crossing while the train surges down the track to victory, but there is no real loser, since the car wins a consolation prize: one free train trip back West. christine m. heppermann From HORN BOOK, Copyright The Horn Book, used with permission.