The Smash-Up Crash-Up Derby

A boy, his mother, and his aunt and uncle witness the excitement of the Demolition Derby at the county fair. Seymour (who previously teamed up with Schindler for I Love My Buzzard) delivers present-tense, action-packed narration, simulating the frenzy as the four root for the driver of a yellow station wagon, who turns out to be the boy's father. The author punctuates his rhythmic-and occasionally rhyming-text with an onomatopoetic cacophony: ``The fun about the derby/ is the WHACK and SCREECH and/ WHUMP and HISS and/ THUMP and POP and/ BANG!'' Schindler's slightly loopy artwork expands upon the energy of the story and injects extra humor. Turning headlights and grill work into eyes and teeth, he invests the automobiles with individual personalities-in one memorable scene, he renders them as dinosaurs. Similarly, the derby audience exhibits a wacky retro stylishness, sporting a variety of beehive hairdos, handlebar mustaches, mod sunglasses and brightly patterned shirts and dresses. Car-noise connoisseurs will rev up for this one. Ages 4-7. (Mar.)