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ROY MAKES A CAR

Name: ROY MAKES A CAR
Author: Mary E. Lyons
ISBN: 0-689-84640-1

by Mary E. Lyons & illustrated by Terry Widener ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2005

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Lyons wheels out a terrific new tall-tale character in a Florida yarn based on a fragment collected by Zora Neale Hurston. Disturbed by the number of collisions around the town of Eatonville, which lies “somewhere west of Christmas and north of Boogy’s Corner,” legendary auto mechanic Roy Tyle builds a car that can sail over a tall Chevy sedan, under a low-slung Buick, and around anything else on the road. Not content with that, though, he welds golden wings onto his next “Roy-mobile” and flies it up past heaven’s bleachers so right smart that God buys it for His angels. Widener fills his Depression-era scenes with sleek roadsters and dark-skinned, strongly molded faces in rolling, Thomas Hart Benton–style settings, then closes with a small cameo of Hurston over a tantalizing account of her career as a folklorist. Roy’s working on a new project now; Lyons invites readers to take a peek, warning, “But don’t stand too close! That Roy Tyle is a wonder-making man. ’Tain’t no telling what he’ll try next.” (source note) (Picture book/folktale. 7-9)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-689-84640-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LETTERS FROM A SLAVE BOY
by Mary E. Lyons

- BOOK REVIEW
FEED THE CHILDREN FIRST
edited by Mary E. Lyons

- BOOK REVIEW
KNOCKABEG
by Mary E. Lyons

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'S.S.' GIGANTIC ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

THE STORY OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST OCEAN LINER EVER!

by Peter Selgin ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1999

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“S.S” Gigantic Across The Atlantic (40 pp.; $16.00; May; 0-689-82467-X): A gleeful poke at the Titanic tale and mythology, as well as at anyone involved in boasts of “biggest,” “best,” and “most.” Pip-Squeak, a young lad in search of adventure, and unafraid to toot his own horn, meets up with adult hyperbole in the form of Captain Bragg, whose ship is the “S.S.” Gigantic, and whose gloating skills are only slightly less flamboyant than the claims he makes for his vessel. The ship survives a large iceberg (sinking it, in fact), and—unlike Titanic—gets a second chance. A shiplore send-up, in amusing stylized art. (Picture book. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-689-82467-X

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

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AXLE ANNIE

by Robin Pulver ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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Pulver (Homer and the House Next Door, 1994, etc.) delivers a rambunctious wintry tall tale about how a valiant bus driver, Axle Annie, defeats a dastardly scheme concocted by fellow driver Shifty Rhodes. Annie is famous in her town of Burskyville for her amazing ability to maneuver her bus through any snowstorm. Not even the specter of the towering incline known as Tiger Hill can intimidate her. Thus the Burskyville schools never close, much to the disgruntlement of Shifty, who’d like a snow day now and then. When Shifty conspires with Hale Snow, owner of a local ski resort, to whip up a doozy of a snowstorm on Tiger Hill (with a little help from Hale’s snowmaking machine), it appears that Annie has met her match. However, her generosity in the past to all the stranded motorists is returned when they push her up the hill. With hilarious, over-the-top characters, this satisfyingly outrageous tale will tickle readers’ funny bones. Arnold’s spunky illustrations capture the tongue-in-cheek spirit of the text and his characterization of the curmudgeonly Shifty help make this blustery tale the perfect antidote for the winter doldrums. (Picture book. 4-8)