Can a train pullin’ half a mile of heavy-duty freight cars make it to Chicago ahead of a speedy little race car?Through the desert . . . Through the mountains . . . Through a blizzard . . .
Vvvrrrrrrrrrrrrrrum!
Chooka Chooka Chooka Chooka
The race is on!
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Good, but not our favorite from this series.
By LKP
This was the 5th McMullan book from this series that we own, and my least favorite so far, although it is still a good addition to the set. The fact that we own 5 should say a lot about how much we love the author/illustrator team, and perhaps if we didn't love the others so much I would give this a better rating. The biggest thing that stands out to me that this book is lacking is an attention getting beginning and a clear and concise ending. I found myself looking for the "who am I?" beginning and ending pages that the others have. This seems like an obvious oversight in my opinion, as this identifying theme seems critical to the overall tone of these books. I literally kept checking the first and last pages to see if maybe the pages were stuck as it seemed too abrupt on either end and it took me a few minutes to realize that this aspect was missing. My two year old likes this book, but did not take to it immediately like he did with the others, and it took some convincing and several somewhat forced reads before he began to get into it. He is extremely drawn to the "role call" page that labels each train car, and to be honest would probably be happy just going to that page and reading off the train car names over and over. This page is in theme with similar pages from the other stories that either "count" or "label" and is a fun and appropriate concept for toddlers (ex-the "alphabet soup" pages in "I Stink", and "counting down what I'm cleaning up" from I'm Dirty.) Over all, the train and car characters are only moderately likable and are less expressive than McMullan's other characters, although the illustrations are in the same great style which is so obviously a big part of the success of all of these books. I think that the interaction between the car and train could be better too. We really enjoyed the walk-on cameo in the snow scene of Dirty, the backhoe loader, who my son recognized right away! I think there is more potential for carryover of the beloved characters from the other books in future stories, or even a actual sequel(my choice would be for another Dirty book). What is successful is the rhythmic writing style and use of sound effects that we love so much in her books. Making these sound effects is really the best part of reading these books as you must be enthusiastic and cannot get away with a rushed and uninvolved reading. This is good news for any child who wants to stretch out story-time as much as possible! Even when I'm not really "in the mood" all of these stories, this one included, have a way of putting a smile on my face as I begin to get into it. If you love the other books in this series and want to complete the set, then get this for sure, but it may not hold you or your child's interest as much as the others. If I were to rank these I would say for our family "I'm Dirty" is 1st followed by "I Stink" in a close 2nd. Then comes "I'm Mighty," followed by "I'm Bad" and then "I'm Fast." We do not yet own "I'm Big" so I cannot comment on that one, although I'm sure I will eventually pick it up too.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Fast, Dirty and Stinky!
By Gertrude Stein
The McMullans are great picture book illustrators and wonderful wordsmiths and story tellers! I bought I'm Fast! and I'm Dirty!, because my 4 year old grand-nephew loved I Stink! They were instant winners. They are a delight to read and to hear. They are also very informative, and they lead to meaningful conversations, without being preach-y. The males in my sister's family have always loved car racing, especially sports cars -- this books has no intentions to rain on that parade. What it does do is give a young person who loves the Thomas train stories an introduction into fast, dirty, stinky 21 Century USA reality.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
My son loves it!
By Magda Dagnall
My 3 yo loves this book since it has 2 of his favorite things: train and trucks. We read it many times. The story is very cute, friendly and the drawings are very realistic. Highly recommended.
