My Car

Starred review from July 19, 2004
"With just a few words per page, Barton conveys simple car facts as he follows Sam at the wheel, then supplies an ending with a twist. The chunky blocks of color and minimalist text will withstand countless readings," wrote PW
in our Best Books citation. Ages 2-up.

August 1, 2001
PreS-Sam takes good care of his bright red car. He keeps it clean and makes sure that it has oil and gasoline. He also obeys the traffic laws, reads the street signs, drives carefully, and introduces readers to his vehicle's many parts. He drives his car many places, but at work he's behind the wheel of-a big, green bus. Typical of Barton's style, the illustrations are simple and stylized, but perfectly suited to the text. Bold, complementary colors are featured against yellow backgrounds. The book will find a home with youngsters who enjoy books about cars, trains, buses, and the like. Combine it with Donald Crews's Freight Train (Greenwillow, 1978) to get a toddler or preschool storytime rolling.-Roxanne Burg, Thousand Oaks Library, CA

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2001
Ages 2-4. This is a simple picture book, simple in the best sense. Each illustration is distilled to the essence of its graphic forms. Boldly shaped blocks of brilliant colors combine to make recognizable figures and objects, which in turn create dynamic scenes that illustrate the first-person narrative. The story is simple too, short enough to engage a toddler, yet with a nice twist at the end. The narrator introduces his car and its many useful features and he demonstrates how carefully he drives--stopping for pedestrians, reading signs. The twist comes when he explains that he drives his car to work where he boards a bus: he's the driver. Those who equate simple with easy or dull will be delighted with the colors, shapes, and composition that Barton manipulates so playfully and so precisely. Sometimes electric combinations of colors set up visual effects that keep the eyes in motion over the double-page spreads. In more peaceful pictures, perfectly placed elements of the design create pleasing effects reminiscent of a collage by Matisse. For young children intrigued by cars, this book is simply wonderful. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)