KIRKUS REVIEW
Well beyond Dick and Jane, this beginning reader makes learning seem effortless and fun. The jaunty layout of bright, crisp photographs and flowing font stand out before the textured, colorful backdrops. Each spread is devoted to a particular moving machine that one would find on the road, like cars, fire trucks, school buses and even bicycles, which are “ . . . fun to do and healthy, too.” Many pages offer brief highlights that identify parts of the vehicle, pointing out the cab or radiator of a semi-truck, for instance. The text is light and lilting, maintaining a balance between challenging and amusing. To further the learning benefits there is a section called, “Reading Together,” which offers suggestions such as identifying rhymes and making up one’s own. Also included are sections devoted to a brief dictionary, key words to use in a sentence and six questions titled, “What Do You Know?” for reading comprehension. This book works on many levels: visually, conceptually and educationally, enhancing this already successful Scholastic series. (Easy reader/nonfiction. 4-7)