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Car Wash
A simple trip to the car wash turns into a deep sea adventure, in a lively tale with bold illustrations. By the illustrator of Raising Sweetness.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 29, 2001
2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
May 10, 2021
Ugh! This one did nothing for me.
If you've got a kid who's wild about sound effects, you may want to pick this book up - otherwise - avoid! I'm normally a fan of G. Brian Karas's illustrations . . . but even they couldn't save this book.
If you've got a kid who's wild about sound effects, you may want to pick this book up - otherwise - avoid! I'm normally a fan of G. Brian Karas's illustrations . . . but even they couldn't save this book.
October 22, 2014
theres always something sort of mystical about the car wash itself and when your a kid you always enjoyed going through it even if you don't want to admit it. but the cool thing was that everything the kids imagined in the car i related back to what i felt as a kid going through the car wash. too often were the kids imagination and my past interrelated. that being said the rest of the book i dislike. the text is boring, the illustrations are a bit dull and they could have been done a different way. because i feel like in a picture book with few to no words in it the primary focus should be the illustrations and they seemed more like a back thought here rather than anything else.
August 17, 2022
What's it like to go through the car wash? Maybe it's like taking an undersea adventure! Simple, short sentences and lots of noises to imitate are accompanied by fantastic illustrations combining Karas's signature colored pencil sketches with found objects like pearls, glass baubles, buttons, seashells, and terrycloth tentacles to evoke both the sea and the car wash. Lovely.
November 1, 2020
The experience of a drive-through car wash is either fun or scary for children. The twins in this story have a great imaginative adventure going through the car wash in their daddy's car. Amazing illustrations.
June 25, 2018
Illustrations could be better
Message is simple enough
Cute
Not high quality
But not a bad book
Some sophisticated language
Could be worse
Message is simple enough
Cute
Not high quality
But not a bad book
Some sophisticated language
Could be worse
December 3, 2018
Cute but would only make sense to those that have been through a carwash.
August 30, 2020
Hello Susan and Sandra...
It has been far too long since I have heard about you or read anything from you.
Life has been good? Track me down...returned to Monterey in 2016.
Eric B
It has been far too long since I have heard about you or read anything from you.
Life has been good? Track me down...returned to Monterey in 2016.
Eric B
March 26, 2015
Car Wash by Sandra and Susan Steen brings the idea of a car wash to a whole new level. The book brings out the imagination that some kids may have while going through a car wash. It is a fun book that kids can relate to.
The text is very simple and short throughout the book. Steen makes sure to use words and phrases that kids recognize. These words are expressive of the experiences that they may have while experiencing a car wash. There are a lot of onomatopoeia's used to give the reader an idea of the sounds that are being heard throughout the car wash. When Steen wants a word to be exaggerated by the reader, it is found in a larger font than the rest. The text is also found around the illustrations, rather than all in one spot. This ensures that the reader is noticing the illustrations while reading the book.
The illustrations in this book are what makes it so unique. G. Brian Karas does a great job of making the illustrations unique throughout the book. Each page, the illustrations are completely different than the rest. Karas uses every type of writing utensil, including colored pencils, markers, and crayons. Watercolors and paints are also used throughout to give the pages texture in the background, rather than a solid color. The main contribution that Karas uses in the book are pictures of physical objects. These give the reader a more realistic view to the story. The photographs also add a sense of realness to the reader and pop out.
The text is very simple and short throughout the book. Steen makes sure to use words and phrases that kids recognize. These words are expressive of the experiences that they may have while experiencing a car wash. There are a lot of onomatopoeia's used to give the reader an idea of the sounds that are being heard throughout the car wash. When Steen wants a word to be exaggerated by the reader, it is found in a larger font than the rest. The text is also found around the illustrations, rather than all in one spot. This ensures that the reader is noticing the illustrations while reading the book.
The illustrations in this book are what makes it so unique. G. Brian Karas does a great job of making the illustrations unique throughout the book. Each page, the illustrations are completely different than the rest. Karas uses every type of writing utensil, including colored pencils, markers, and crayons. Watercolors and paints are also used throughout to give the pages texture in the background, rather than a solid color. The main contribution that Karas uses in the book are pictures of physical objects. These give the reader a more realistic view to the story. The photographs also add a sense of realness to the reader and pop out.
May 18, 2011
We picked this book up from the library because my son loves the car wash. There's one in Arizona that we visit that absolutely fascinates him...
Anyway, what a fun book. For little boys especially this could be a fun, repeat-read; a great gift book for a two or three-year-old.
About the text: The plot is that a family heads into a drive-through car wash, and they imagine they are heading under the sea. The text is a combination of nouns (Porthole. Foamy sea. Coral reef.) and verbs, sounds, and commands (Whomp! Thomp! Don't look back!).
About the art: I typically don't like mixed media art, but, here, each page sports bits of real life items, like leaves, or pipes or glass beads, that are then incorporated into an overall acrylic or pencil illustration. The end result works, and allows both a quick interpretation of the spread, and enough interest so that a reader can linger over the page and discover the various elements...
Anyway, what a fun book. For little boys especially this could be a fun, repeat-read; a great gift book for a two or three-year-old.
About the text: The plot is that a family heads into a drive-through car wash, and they imagine they are heading under the sea. The text is a combination of nouns (Porthole. Foamy sea. Coral reef.) and verbs, sounds, and commands (Whomp! Thomp! Don't look back!).
About the art: I typically don't like mixed media art, but, here, each page sports bits of real life items, like leaves, or pipes or glass beads, that are then incorporated into an overall acrylic or pencil illustration. The end result works, and allows both a quick interpretation of the spread, and enough interest so that a reader can linger over the page and discover the various elements...
November 24, 2015
I read this with a 2nd grader I work with and it's a GREAT book to introduce interjections and onomatopoeia, even if you aren't telling the child that's what you're working on yet! Most kids have been through a car wash at some time in their lives so, along with the teacher setting the stage, they usually have the background knowledge to relate to it and have it be fun. The little boy who read this to me has a hard time, in general, reading with expression and this is a wonderful book for him to practice on! He LOVES the silly words and expressions and reads with inflection in his voice mostly because he's having so much fun. We are going to videotape him reading this to us so he can watch himself read it and hopefully generalize some of the expression habits he's picked up while reading this book. (-:
October 11, 2011
I am sure many children and no grown-ups can relate too. I remember going to the car wash and imagining different things that were outside cleaning the car. A child's imagination and creativity can run wild. The illustrations in this book are all different. G. Brian Karas uses multiple kinds of medium. This would be a good book to use when having your students decipher between different techniques and mediums used in illustrating a book. It is an easy, straight-forward read, but the illustrations are over the top!
October 11, 2011
The illustrations in this book were incredible. The endpapers give insight to what the book is going to be about which is a productive way to use the whole entire book, from start to finish. The way G. Brian Karas put real life materials into this book enhanced the text. I was fascinated at realistic some of the pages looked, for instance, where the family is exiting the car wash and the water beads are dancing off their windows. If I was this amazed by this book, children will absolutely love it.
January 18, 2012
"Car Wash" gives car washes and imaginative twist. In the car wash the family is transported into an undersea adventure. "Car Wash" is written using short, descriptive sentences. The illustrations are a combination of watercolor and real-life objects. I thought this brought contrast to the illustrations, and made the focal points stand out. I think "Car Wash" is a great quick read for students. Also, I know many children are afraid of car washes, so this story might help children see car washes as an adventure, instead of a frightening experience.
November 20, 2016
Also read 9/4/2014 as part of the launch in Writers' Workshop.
8/20/12 ** Used as part of the personal narrative (memoir) unit in Writer's Workshop. This is a good mentor text for taking a brief, seemingly unimportant memory and creating a published text. Lots of imagination in the way the parts of the car wash are depicted. Downside is that there are no textual characters or dialogue. Upside is creative use of text placement on the page.
8/20/12 ** Used as part of the personal narrative (memoir) unit in Writer's Workshop. This is a good mentor text for taking a brief, seemingly unimportant memory and creating a published text. Lots of imagination in the way the parts of the car wash are depicted. Downside is that there are no textual characters or dialogue. Upside is creative use of text placement on the page.
April 24, 2015
Ok, this is not a book I would go out of my way to own, but I am glad we found it at the library. The illustrations are fun and creative; my kids enjoy figuring out and describing what the different pictures are made out of. I also appreciate this book because my oldest has sensory issues and is afraid of the car wash... now she is asking to go through the car wash so we can imagine we are on an undersea adventure.
February 28, 2008
Recommended by a very discerning four-year-old who insisted I read the book to him. I loved this book even though, secretly, I am afraid of car washes. The illustrations by Brian Karas are gorgeous. The flight of imagination is wonderful; the ending is perfect and demands that this book be read again, and again...
August 1, 2014
It took my daughter (5yrs)a couple of read throughs to understand the concept. Once she figured out that we could imagine the car wash as being an under the sea adventure, she enjoyed it more. Her enjoyment of the book increases with each subsequent read. Fun book but will probably never add it our personal collection.
July 22, 2009
*Picture Books* This book is so much fun! Its an adventure that children go on in a "submarine" while driving through the car wash. The pictures are a fun way to incorporate the story line, and the kids are so inventive.
January 21, 2016
The car is dirty so on the way to get take-out the dad and the kids go through a car wash. They pretend it's an underwater adventure.
Illustrations are kinda a mixed media thing. Would have given the book only two stars but the for the creativeness of the graphics.
Illustrations are kinda a mixed media thing. Would have given the book only two stars but the for the creativeness of the graphics.
July 28, 2024
A dad tells his two children to hop in the car to go get some lunch. But on the way the stop at the drive through car wash. Each stage and cycle of the car war turns into an under the sea adventure in the siblings imagination. The ride through a car wash will never be the same after this read.
May 6, 2008
Loved the illustrations!
May 6, 2008
~*~I will never go through a car wash again just thinking that it is a regular everyday, ordinary car wash! I just loved this book!
July 2, 2008
I'll never think of a car wash the same way again!
February 22, 2009
imaginative children in a car transform a trip to the car wash to an undersea adventure. illustrations jump out with actual objects on top of drawings.
July 19, 2009
Picture Book: Two- and Three- word sentences explore the adventures of one’s imagination riding through a carwash. Beautiful and very creative pictures, some made with everyday objects.
September 19, 2016
Collect your scuba gear and switch on your imagination as you take an imaginary deep-sea plunge at the car-wash.
January 25, 2011
This book has few words. The pictures are creative and allows you to use your imagination. It is uup to the teacher to make the book interesting and entertaining.
September 21, 2011
Nice example of writing about a small moment in time.
November 22, 2011
Very creative illustrations, and we all enjoy the end (beginning?) of the adventure!
October 23, 2012
This book is about young children's experience with a car wash. Great examples of phonemic awareness dealing with sounds. Great illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews