cover image ABCs on Wheels

ABCs on Wheels

Ramon Olivera. S&S/Little Simon, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4814-3244-3

In an excellent companion to 2015’s ABCs on Wings, Olivera introduces land-based vehicles large and small, old and new. Like its predecessor, the book is distinguished by smart word pairings and clean, crisp digital graphics, with details that amplify the ideas being introduced. A scene set in foggy London pairs a tiny Mini Cooper (“Cc is for compact”) and a large bus (“Dd is for double-decker”), the latter occupied by the queen, a punk rocker, and a bulldog with a monocle. Later on, a tow truck hauls a busted-up station wagon to the dump as Oliver cites “junkyard” and “kaput,” and a presidential “limousine” is surrounded, naturally, by a police “motorcade.” Like the “underdog” who wins a stock car race late in the book, this one deserves a victory lap. Ages 3–7. [em]Agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary. (July) [/em]