Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Series #3)

by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Joe Berger (Illustrator)

Overview

Everyone’s favorite flying car shifts into another dimension as the intrepid Tooting family zooms back and forth through time.

When the Tootings return to Zobrowski Terrace at the end of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, they find that “home” is looking a lot like Jurassic Park. But this is no theme park — a very real and very hungry T. rex is charging them! Thanks to Dad’s inadvertent yanking of Chitty’s “Chronojuster” lever, the spirited car has ushered them back to prehistoric times, where the family (and especially Baby Harry) make a narrow escape. But Chitty has a mind of her own, and the Tootings will get an unexpected tour of exciting times and places from Prohibition-era New York (where Chitty wants to compete in the famous Prix d’Esmerelda’s Birthday Cake race) to the lost city of El Dorado and back again, with misadventures and surprise stowaways along the way. Get ready for a hilarious high-flying adventure, with celebrated author Frank Cottrell Boyce behind the wheel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763663780
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/12/2013
Series:	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Series , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Frank Cottrell Boyce is a writer of books for young readers, most notably Millions, winner of the Carnegie Medal, and Cosmic, which garnered six starred reviews. He is also the author of The Unforgotten Coat. Frank Cottrell Boyce lives in England.

Joe Berger is an editorial cartoonist, animator, and illustrator. He has illustrated numerous books, including the Nosy Crow title Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble by Tracey Corderoy. Joe Berger lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

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. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

This second authorized sequel sends the reconstructed car with a mind of its own careening from the Cretaceous to the Jazz Age, Venezuela to the Wild West, while folding in references and tributes to Ian Fleming’s classic tale.
—Kirkus Reviews

Featuring a near-dizzying array of characters—including a reunion with suave first Chitty owner Mr. Zborowski—and events, from car races to kidnapping to run-ins with anacondas, this is a lively, entertaining read that those familiar with the previous title will especially enjoy. Digitally rendered, cartoonish illustrations add retro flair.
—Booklist Online

Frank Cottrell Boyce preserves the charm of the original while delivering a madcap escapade that a new generation of youngsters will love.
—BookPage Children's Corner

Boys in particular will appreciate the race’s death-defying moments and the continued mad-cap escapades, chases, kidnappings and narrow escapes.
—BookPage

Life with the Tootings is the wildest Sunday drive imaginable.
—Publishers Weekly

Hilarious fun.
—Yellow Brick Road

From the Publisher

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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