Sunday, July 3rd, 2005
Book Review: If I Had A Little Car
Finally a book for children of long-haul truckers! Or something.
A friend gave us a board book, If I Had A Car, by Larri DiFiori. The target age is babies to preschoolers. The story is about a nameless child who tells us where he would drive his red convertible sports car if he actually owned one.
Sorry, I couldn’t find a product photo, and I expect the publisher
wouldn’t care for me snapping one, because of what I have to say.
The cover art shows the boy with his car. There is a cute rabbit-shaped hood ornament. Oh, and a, uh, cute severed rabbit’s foot hanging from the radio antenna.
The story goes like this:
- Boy drives down street waving to friends. Why stop and talk to your friends? Bah, let’s drive!
- Boy drives into the countryside enjoying the big trucks around him. He tells us so, and we see them, too. Oh, and I spy three hikers in the distance trudging up a hill. Silly hikers!
- Boy drives past cows and horses. Neat scenery, but let’s not stop. Drive! Drive! Drive!
- Boy eats at a trucker’s diner.
- Boy sleeps for the night in his convertible at a rest stop! Mmm, that’s safe.
- Boy goes home the next morning and washes his car. Then he hops in and drives off again. Yipee!
Are you looking for a book that reinforces America’s car culture, or your job that requires long car trips away from your family, or the opposite — dragging your kid on long car trips with you, or your own personal infatuation with sports cars, or a cursory view of nature? Hey, Amazon.com can hook you up with a few people who still have used copies of this book published in 1985. Whoever gave us this book must consider it a classic.
Look for these other titles by this author:
- If I had an Airplane
- If I Had a Little Boat
- If I Had a Little Train
If I Had a Car [amazon.com]
