Old MacDonald’s Things That Go

Clarke (Who Woke the Baby?) gives Old MacDonald an insatiable need for speed in this snappy vehicular riff on a classic nursery song. Instead of animal noises and choruses of “E-I-E-I-O,” she deploys an array of dings, vrooms, and zooms as the farmer takes to the roads, rivers, and sky: “And on that farm he had a plane./ He loved things that go!” Blanco’s (Cinderella’s Stepsister and the Big Bad Wolf) cheerful digital illustrations lend a retro mid-20th-century look to the pages, highlighting 1950s-era trucks, convertibles, boats, and farm equipment. A cast of farm animals keeps the story moving, riding along with Old MacDonald in their own vehicles or cheering him on from the sidelines as the farmer pilots a tractor (“with a chug-chug here”), boat (“with a splash-splash there”), train (“everywhere a choo-choo”), and other noisy contraptions. Clarke’s adapted stanzas are sure to draw giggles in several places (“And on that farm/ he had a combine harvester”), and Blanco’s detail-crammed scenes will have readers poring over the pages. Ages 2–5. (Apr.)