The Runaway No-wheeler

by Peter Stein, Bob Staake (Illustrator)

Overview

Trucks! Counting! Tire-eating aliens! This wonderful, rhyming, super-silly book has it ALL...including Bob Staake's awesome artwork.

THE RUNAWAY NO-WHEELER is a clever spin on a counting book and the perennial favorite, a book starring trucks. Tony is a sturdy, long-hauling 18-wheeler with a delivery to make, but many obstacles are in the way — from potholes to slime to rescue missions to aliens' space rockets. In the style of counting classics like Dr. Seuss' Ten Apples Up on Top — though in this case, subtractive counting — Tony finds himself losing wheel after wheel with each hurdle he encounters. Will he be able to make his delivery?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593114209
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	11/17/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	882,005
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Peter Stein has been a highly successful writer, editor, designer, and art director for more than twenty years, and has created at least ninety-seven truckloads of greeting cards. He lives with his family in Northern California.

Bob Staake has authored and/or illustrated over seventy books, including The Red Lemon, one of the New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2006. A frequent cover illustrator for The New Yorker, Bob's cover entitled "Reflection" commemorating Barack Obama's election was named by TIME as #1 in their list of 10 Top Magazine Covers of 2008 and is the most popular New Yorker cover of all-time. Perhaps even more famously, his maternal grandfather invented the crinkle-cut french fry!

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/01/2020

K-Gr 2—Tony the Truck is having a very bad delivery day. The normally reliable big rig encounters one disaster after another, from slipping on slime to narrowly avoiding a family of ducklings. With each misfortune, Tony loses a different number of wheels, prompting readers to try to keep track as they count backward from 18. Tony has a goofy, friendly face on his green cab and tows a bright red trailer. As he careens downhill, he passes castles, tunnels, suburban houses, and even a spaceship. The citizens of this wacky world have expressive faces and smooth silhouettes. Their skin tones range from light to dark, as well as Muppet-like shades of green, purple, and other colors. When Tony reaches the city, the skyline is dotted with humorous signs that adults reading along will get a kick out of. The text has an upbeat tempo and an impeccable sense of rhythm. Key words are illustrated in bright colors that pop off the page. One clever spread presents words in green, yellow, and red—like a traffic light—as the commands become more urgent. Tony slides into the delivery dock with nary an inch of rubber still attached to his axles. When he unloads his shipment, readers will chuckle. VERDICT This delightful misadventure teaches not only subtraction but also perseverance and determination. And it's funny—which every collection needs.—Chance Lee Joyner, Haverhill P.L., MA

School Library Journal

2020-09-15
Neither snow nor sleet nor missing wheels stay this brave 18-wheeler from its appointed round.

Stein and Staake try their hand at a bit of plot after having created multiple books in the free-wheeling Cars Galore (2011) vein. Tony is a massive semi with plenty of experience delivering goods on time. Alas, today is one day when Tony will find himself tested like never before. First he loses a wheel when he slides on some slime. Then poor roads, baby ducks, and wheel thieves beset the brave truck in turn. After the encounter with wheel-eating aliens, Tony’s lost 14 wheels. The last four are soon to follow, but what’s that? Up ahead lies Tony’s destination. Can he make it after all? Staake applies much of the cheerful chaos already perfected when he illustrated Margaret Wise Brown’s similarly out-of-control The Steam Roller (2017). A cast of rainbow-colored people gapes and gawps as Tony barrels through candy-colored retro landscapes filled with tiny details for sharp little eyes (and a solid Seinfeld reference for older ones). Whether it’s thieves, ET’s, or slime, this book’s rhymes never strain for the right number of syllables, upping the ante on the action beautifully. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 43.9% of actual size.)

A bona fide fiasco on wheels that’ll have the kids screaming for more. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews