What's Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah?

January 1, 1998
K-Gr 3-A concept book about speed that will have difficulty finding an audience. The material is more suited to older readers, but the childlike quality of the illustrations will keep them at bay. Younger children will be attracted to the lively cartoon art and format, but will have a difficult time comprehending such comparisons as a jet engine flying faster than the speed of sound or sound waves traveling 660 miles per hour. Wells does provide plenty of information on "fast things," starting off by comparing the speed of an ostrich to that of a child. The concept is an interesting one, but the presentation may be problematic.-Denise Furgione, Franklin Township Public Library, NJ

October 1, 1997
Ages 5^-9. The author of "Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?" (1993) and "What's Smaller than a Pygmy Shrew?" (1995) takes on the notion of speed and doesn't stop until he has expanded children's minds. Beginning with a race between a cheetah and an ostrich, the book goes on to compare the cheetah's top running speed with the flight of a falcon, which is not as fast as a propeller plane, which is not as fast as the speed of sound, which is not as fast as a jet plane, which is not as fast as a rocket ship, which is not as fast as a meteoroid, which is not as fast as the speed of light! Then he brings it all back down to earth with one question: "Who ever would have thought that the fastest traveling thing in the whole universe could come out of something small enough to hold in your hand?" Always in sync with the way children think, Wells takes each concept and makes it concrete, vivid, and understandable as he takes it to its logical conclusion. Even better, the illustrations make it all fun, taking the characters on an improbable journey through space at ever-accelerating speeds. A trip children won't want to miss. ((Reviewed October 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)