Mini Racer

by Kristy Dempsey, Bridget Strevens Marzo (Illustrator)

Ready, steady, green light, go! Mini Racer won't go slow.

Twelve little vehicles are lined up and ready to race. With speed bumps to jump and corners to round, who will take the lead? The winner just might surprise you. This rhyming text is filled with onomatopoeia sure to tickle the funny bones of little readers. Beep, beep! Watch out as they race to turn the pages and follow each animal's themed story. And the chase doesn't end with the last screech; little ones will beg to read it over again to discover all of the details in the art. Mini Racer is a must-have for story time!

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Animals, Racing, Transport, Cars

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Director of Creative Content

Children's Author:
ME WITH YOU (Philomel)
MINI RACER (Bloomsbury)
SURFER CHICK (Abrams)
A DANCE LIKE STARLIGHT (Philomel)
SUPERHERO INSTRUCTION MANUAL (Knopf)
TEN LITTLE FINGERS, TWO SMALL HANDS (Little Bee)
A HOP IS UP (Bloomsbury)
TEN LITTLE TOES, TWO SMALL FEET (Little Bee)
PAPA PUT A MAN ON THE MOON (Dial, 2019)

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This works because:
1. the rhyme is interesting and spot-on ("Rev your motor, push the pace, build up speed to lead the race")
2. great topic of race cars
3. the art is playful and yummy - rainbow wheels on the wheelchair pushed by a seal, a carrot car driven by a bunny - less cluttered than a Richard Scarry book, but the same fun feel with animals driving species-themed vehicles
4. a couple of sentences per page with large illustrations means a young group will be captivated
5. Mini Racer is a snail on a skateboard

Pair this with Brian Floca's "Racecar Alphabet".

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book for PreKindergarten. It's a rhyming romp with many different kinds of animals racing through the countryside. There's a monkey driving a banana, owls racing in a tree log, bunny rabbits in a carrot car. There are some spills and minor crashes, but the triumphant winner makes for a nice surprise ending.

The illustrations are very colorful and the words echo the terrain as they spread across the pages. Be sure to look for the mouse driving the cheese car!

[Boni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, fun book. Kids will love poring over the illustrations (which are busy and awesome) and it's a terrific read-aloud. Wish my boys were 3 years old again- I would have had to read this book a billion times- and enjoyed every one :)

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Start your engines! Time to race Round the corners. Take your place. This wonderful rhythmic text will tickle the funny bones of little readers all around the racecourse. The bright Richard Scarry-esque art adds a multilayered story as twelve mini animals zoom around an obstacle course in their mini vehicles. Follow each animal's setbacks and triumphs on the course as

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Start your engines! Time to race, round the corners and take your place. Twelve racers line up to race to the finish line in this bouncy rhyming read-along. Kids will love looking at all of the race cars and will have fun finding out who will win in the end. What are the safety frogs doing while the race is going down, around, through and up?

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

love books that have a good storyline AND lots to look at on each page. Rhyming text and bright illustrations lends itself to a good story time choice, but the fun details will keep a little one busy if you set it in their lap.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't really wow me, but I can see it being a big hit with kids who enjoy race cars and animals. It's fun to see the animals racing around in their quirky little cars (like something from Mario Kart!) and the rhyme scheme is pretty good.

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book because it had nice rhymes in and it also had lots of great pictures! It was a very good animal book. It was very good because none of the animals tried very much because they knew they would beat the snail but the snail did try and so he won.

Mason (aged 7)

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute illustrations and rhyming text--nice book to use for R2R.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This generation's Richard Scarry? This is a fun, fast-paced book. I'm thinking some little boys will like this one!

[Danie P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute rhyming, not too long, racing story.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text and illustrations were fun in this story. Would make an enjoyable read aloud.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of fun. I like how the animals correspond to their racing vehicles. Lots going on and lots to look at in the pictures.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story, appealing illustrations, great for reading aloud.

[Colby Sharp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could see this being a book that could help bridge the gap between non-fiction and fiction reading in an early reader boy.

[jacksonandpeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

the boys LOVED this book! They would choose a different racer to be everynight and be so excited to see where they ended up.
It was really fun to see them so entertained by this book.

[Laura Salas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's race time in this picture book reminiscent of Richard Scarry's books from my childhood! Cute rhyming text is nice and short, leaving plenty for the fun illustrations to fill in. "Swerving, sliding, hit the brakes; fender bender, bumps and aches." Luckily, there's an ambulance and a paramedic frog on the scene to help the teddy bear with the bump on her head. There's lots of shenanigans and cheering galore when little snail wins the race!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book, and would make a fun read aloud. I did feel a little that the text and the illustrations did not always work together well. They both were nice, but at times I felt like the illustrations didn't really go with the words. They didn't really make the story easier to understand.

[Donna]

MINI RACER is a fun read as you race from page to page and giggle along the way. The rhyme and word choice are perfect in the concise, face-paced book. This is a read-again book for sure!

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This humorous rhyming book is perfect for young children who love races, cars and silliness.

The story is pretty simple, but the rhyme has great rhythm so you can chant it out loud.

My kids love analyzing the illustrations on each page.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun choice for transportation storytimes.

[Brenna Call · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great boy book! I liked the sing songy rhyme but I didn't really love the pictures. This one was just ok for me.

[Nancy Jo Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will review this one on my blog...

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but takes one reading to figure out who the main character is. Once you get the story it would be fun to watch mini racer's competition fall behind.

[Wendy Garland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief rhyming text accompanies fun illustrations bound to engage most preschoolers.

[Bethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute cute cute, reminds me when I used to watch gran prix formula one road course racing. Rhyming text great for read aloud.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Racing fun

I think that most children would enjoy this book. New words associated with racing will be learned. The illustrations are adorable!

[Kacee Eddinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet book set to rhymes and featuring a great many animals as they go on a race!

[Tianna-Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a very fun and engaging book that allowed children to make predictions. The images were very detailed and encouraged descriptive talk

[Thia]

transportation