Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time

Starred review from January 16, 2012
Sir Ian Fleming’s heirs, who have commissioned numerous James Bond sequels, turned to Boyce (Cosmic) to continue Fleming’s 1964 story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, and Boyce delivers: this follow-up outshines the original. The only returning character is the car, and the book’s spirit (surreal craziness) is much closer to Roald Dahl’s 1968 screenplay than it is to Fleming’s novel. In place of Caractacus Potts and Co. are the Tootings, a modern, multiracial family with three children—Goth Lucy, practical Jem, and baby Harry. After Tom Tooting loses his job, his wife buys him a broken-down camper van, which he and Jem renovate, unknowingly fitting it with an engine from Count Zborowski’s famous racecar. Adventures ensue as the van takes the Tootings around the world to collect the rest of its lost parts; the story doesn’t end so much as set up the next installment. Berger adds comical artwork—he even sneaks in a diagram of Bond’s Aston Martin—creating a Chitty that any kid would be thrilled to own. This first volume in a planned trilogy is hilarious and endlessly entertaining. Ages 9–12. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta, the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency.

February 11, 2013
Boyce’s second sequel to Ian Fleming’s original novel picks up where the 2012 book left off, with the discovery that the Tooting family’s flying car has a highly unusual gear, which allows its occupants to travel back and forth in time. Unfortunately, the “Chronojuster” delivers the Tootings to the Cretaceous period, and at the feet of a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex. Events get increasingly more perilous as mother, father, Lucy, Jem, and Little Harry must repeatedly use their wits to avoid death by anaconda, escape the police in Prohibition-era Manhattan, and rescue their car from the residents of the legendary El Dorado. Ostensibly, Chitty (as the Tootings affectionately call their sentient vehicle) is seeking something—a reunion with Count Zborowski, the car’s original owner, or perhaps a second meeting with Commander Pott, the inventor who restored Chitty in Fleming’s book—but that quest is not fulfilled in volume two. Indeed, this installment ends with another cliffhanger. Readers are unlikely to mind, though, since life with the Tootings is the wildest Sunday drive imaginable. Ages 9–12. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta, the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency.

June 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is back, traveling through time with the Tootings. They are connected to the present day via a "jelly phone" through which they learn that evil villains have set up shop in their home. Chitty is up to her usual tricks, leading the family through an adventure that flies by at an almost frenetic pace. Readers are slyly fed facts about the times and places the travelers visit, including 1920s New York City and the Amazon. On the adventure to find the Potts, Chitty's first family, they wind up in the mythical city of El Dorado, where, after being dissasembled and reassembled, the people gild Chitty, dubbing her Chitty Chitty Bling Bling. After a brief stint at home to tie up loose plot threads (evil villains included), the story ends with the Tootings stuck in London in 1966, clearly leaving the door open for another installment. Much of the story is told through dialogue. While the action-oriented plot might appeal to reluctant readers, they are likely to find it hard to comprehend who is doing all the talking as the family races through time. Characters and plot points don't feel fully fleshed out, which contributes to the frenzied feel. Fun, but not a core purchase.-Amy Commers, South St. Paul Public Library, MN

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