"HOW DO CARS WORK?" by Angel Neuschwander

What an absolute wonderful surprise this little book was when it popped out of its wrapper! “How Do Cars Work?” by Angel Neuschwander and illustrated by Becky Johnston is one of those children’s books that grab you from the start, holds on to the child’s interest and wonder of wonder, actually teach them something useful! There is no underlying deep moral lesson here for the kid to understand, it simply and quite effectively tells children how cars do indeed work, what makes them go!

Ms. Neuschwander is one of those rare individuals that seemingly can take a rather complex and complicated subject and explain it in words that can be understood by just about everyone. Like most of the children’s books that I review, I “kid tested this one.” First I used my third grade grandson. This child has already forgotten more about computers than I will ever know and actually has a pretty good concept of how the stock market works. But alas, when it comes to cars and machinery, he is absolutely clueless. After one read of this little book, the child now has a pretty good grasp of the combustion engine. I then took this one to the special needs unit where I act as a substitute teacher when needed. These are boys and girls with severe to moderate mental and physical disabilities. There was not one child in the classes I read it to that did not have a pretty good idea of how engines work by the time I read it to them twice. To me, this is a pretty good endorsement.

This author also has a knack for detail. I read these books pretty closely, and am always watching for little slip ups. I finally found an example where the author is using fireworks to explain combustion and force, and she has Gretchen, the little girl, setting watching fireworks with her cat, Lucy. “Ha!” I said to myself. There is no way any cat I know will set calmly through a fireworks display. Well, I read the next sentence where Gretchen explains that sometimes she has to hold Lucy close and cover the cat’s ears as she becomes frightened. Now that is attention to detail!

Each page of this book, starting from the simple, going to the more complex, explains precisely how the engine of a car works and how that engine make a car move. The author has not used technical terms that would confuse most adults, but rather has explained everything in great detail in language that a very young child can and does understand. She has used everyday, non-mechanical examples which are quite understandable to everyone to verbally illustrate her points. This, to be quite frank, is one fine bit of writing. If you don’t believe me, set down and try it yourself. It is not easy!

The writing is only part of the charm and usefulness of this book though. The illustrations are quite professionally done and follow the text perfectly. Each picture is detailed; each is quite understandable when viewed while reading the text. Each part of the engine is labeled perfectly and in an order that is quite understandable. There is some very skillful art work on display here. Very mellow, almost pastel colors are used and the contrasting colors the illustrator uses make the diagrams simply pop off the page. Each illustration is bold and catches the eye, and draws it to the subject being addressed. Again, the illustrations, like the writing, may appear simply but they are hardly that. This is truly a gift to be able to do this.

There are other aspects of this book I liked. First, the author uses a little girl, rather than a boy, as the recipient of the knowledge being handed out. I work with kids everyday, more in high school and middle school than anywhere else, and have found that the world of mechanics in no longer a completely male domain. The girls around here, more often than not, know as much about their vehicles as the boys do and show just as much interest. This is good. I also like the way the author is in the process of teaching without “talking down” to her audience. Kids are sensitive about this and pick up on it instantly. No fear here. Any children’s book worth the time reading also provides plenty of information for the adult reader so that a conversation can take place between the adult reader and the child as the book is read and after it is finished. This book is ideal in that sense. Actually, I was able to get over an hour of “car talk” out of my grandson with just one fast reading with him. Lastly, this is the kind of book that the parent can read and reread to the child without going out of their minds. This is important as most parents and grandparents can testify. This also is good. I also liked the cat…but hey, I like cats.

This book is perfect for any home library, school library or public. It is an ideal book for home schooling. I really could not find one thing to be even slightly critical of and was in fact pretty impressed with the entire work. I do highly recommend this one. I hardly see how you could go wrong. Lets hope that we hear more from this author soon!