cover image I’m Fast!

I’m Fast!

Kate McMullan, illus. by Jim McMullan. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-192085-1

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.)