Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | STEEN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Lyons Public Library | E/K STE | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | E STEEN | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A deep sea adventure at the car wash created by an award-winning artist with a snappy text written by school librarians, this book lets kids go through the car wash anytime!Close hatch. Submarine. Going down. Deep. Dark.Inside the foamy sea of the car wash, giant octopus arms whomp against the windows, creatures hide in seaweed, and tidal waves come crashing. Then, it's Drip, drip. Towel dry. Shiny car. Until the twins somehow manage to get the car dirty all over again!
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This delightful picture book begins before the title page, as a father and two children get into their car to head out to lunch. However, a run-in with a huge mud puddle necessitates a stop at the car wash. As they enter, the children imagine that they are descending into the ocean in a submarine and immediately "Close hatch" (the car's sunroof). Inside, the different cleaning mechanisms become sea creatures, from "Coral reef" sponges to the "Giant arms" of the cloth "Octopus" to "Seaweed" brushes. After escaping the "Hurricane" of the rinse cycle, the vehicle passes through the "Red-hot breath" and finally ascends into the outside world. Then it's on to the fast-food restaurant and lunch-only to spill food all over the clean car. The rhythmic text emulates the relentless beat of a car wash: "Windows up. Engine off. On track." Fashioned from gouache, acrylics, pencil, and "some odds and ends," Karas's illustrations contrast sepia-toned scenes of the real world with vivid pinks, blues, and greens inside the car wash. Filled with clever touches, such as hot-pink fabric strips for the octopus legs and glass beads for water running down the windshield, these offbeat pictures provide a perfect counterpart to a story that is firmly rooted in a familiar experience. Creative, clever, and original, this offering is destined to be a hit in storytime or when shared one-on-one.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MDSUEN, Anastasia. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
An onomatopoeic text and multimedia artwork convey the exuberant experience of going through the car wash, from the "whish, whish" of the "foamy sea" as viewed through the "porthole" (side window) to the "Whirr! Whirr!" of the "red-hot breath" that dries off the vehicle. Ages 2-6. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
When their father takes a trip through the car wash, two children imagine a deep-sea adventure, rife with octopus arms and tidal waves, and Karas's gouache, acrylic, and pencil collages imaginatively bridge the gap between reality and fantasy. The impressionistic text consists of phrases and sound effects (Porthole. Foamy sea. Coral reef. Whish, whish), which sometimes lends the story a herky-jerky flow. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
With a sprinkling of imagination, a trip to the car wash becomes an expedition to the farthest depths of the sea. The Steens use a blend of spare but evocative textno single sentence longer than three wordsand onomatopoeia to create an out-of-this-world experience. A close encounter with a mud puddle means the twins plans for lunch with Dad are postponed until their dirty vehicle goes through the car wash. The journey then takes a swing into the twins imaginative world. Soon readers are plunging into the mysterious deep where a car window becomes a porthole, frothing soap bubbles sea-spray, and the long strips of material that scrub the car turn into a towering forest of seaweed-harboring sea life both friend and foe. The Steens inventive use of echoism transforms the noises of a car wash into a symphony of sounds, creating a sublimely poetic experience. Psss! Psss! Safe and sound. Bubbles dance. Beads race. The ever-changing font size of the type, along with the casual placement of the text on the page aptly reflects the sensation of a topsy-turvy sea adventure. Karass brilliantly conceived collages, wrought out of found objects, pencil drawings, gouache and acrylic paints, simultaneously portray the mechanics of the car wash while conveying the full import of the twins imaginings: pearls become bubbles, buttons become octopus suckers, and nails become the water pipes. Readers will find these multi-textured illustrations fascinating and as imaginative as the concept. Terrific for group read-aloud sessions, the Steens rollicking tale gives little listeners an edge-of-their-seats adventure and theyll be begging to peer through the porthole of the car, too. (Picture book. 2-6)
Booklist Review
Ages 2^-6. The glorious slop of a car wash is captured in eye-popping collages and jolly play-by-play. The co-authors, twin sisters, place another set of twins, a brother and sister, in the family car with Dad, on the way to lunch. When mud spatters all over the car, Dad takes a detour to the car wash. Karas' imaginative, crazy re-creations of a car wash from a kid's perspective are great: the car becomes a submarine, and a bubbly sea, a coral reef of sponges, and a hurricane of blowing air appear outside the porthole. It's highly inventive fun that transforms a potentially frightening experience into an entertaining underwater adventure. Connie Fletcher