This book came as the December selection from the Poetry and Prose Book A Month Club for my two year old. (That, by the way, is an excellent opportunity to support a local business while encouraging your favorite little book fan.) Between him and his older brother (6.5 years), we have read this book over a dozen times and we haven’t gotten everything out of it yet.
The primary story line is about a dad and a little boy who go to the train station to pick Mom up after a business trip, and all the things they see and the questions the little boy asks on the way. (I love that it’s a dad and a little boy. My boys identify with the boy, and the fact that they spend more time in the car with me than they do with their father means they find the story hook exciting.)
You can read just the dialog with your kid and you’ll both enjoy this book. But my little guy likes to point out the repeated vehicles throughout the book. (And his first attempts at saying “taxi” really were pricelessly adorable. I LOVE the language acquisition stage.) There are also various “scavenger hunt” type activities you can do through the pages. Letters of the alphabet, find all the birds, and point out the silly things are just a few. This makes it a wonderful choice for reading with mixed age kids and also takes the pain out of reading it 723 times. Tired of the dialog? Read the vehicle names instead. No problem! Or let your kid tell you what’s going on in the pictures. My big kiddo is fond of the Hapless Adventures of The Illiterate. (That’s not an official title. He’s just fascinated by the woman who can’t figure out which way the bus is going… or the subway…)
The illustrations are charming, adorable, funny, and complex. The actual text would be challenging for a beginning reader, and the conversational opportunities are interesting for kids with fairly advanced language abilities. (The visual jokes are silly and appealing for young elementary aged kids.)
The publisher recommends this book for children ages 4-8. My personal opinion is that the upper range is probably accurate, but that you shouldn’t miss out on the chance to teach your toddler to say “VW Bus!” Not convinced? Read more about Brian Biggs.
