Everything I Know About Cars: A Collection of Made-Up Facts, Educated Guesses, and Silly Pictures about Cars, Trucks, and Other Zoomy Things

by Tom Lichtenheld

Stop!
What's Your Car I.Q.?
The fastest kind of
A. A jet-powered dragster
B. An invisible spy car
C. Any car that is red and has flames painted on the sides
Cars were invented
A. Karl Benz
B. Professor Flubber
C. Two horses in Ohio who got tired of carrying people around all day
Souped-up cars are made with what kind of soup?
A. Chicken noodle
B. Pea
C. No actual soup is used
Answers inside!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Cars, Transport

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Children's book author/illustrator writes for kids who love to laugh and grown-ups who love to laugh along with them. When not making up stories and drawing silly pictures, he likes to get other people's kids all riled-up then send them home to their parents.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This silly car book was laugh out loud funny. I think I even snorted at a few puns and exaggerations. My guys really enjoyed it, and so did I.

[Rylan S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really really funny

[Tam · Rating 1 out of 5]

My 5-year-old is overly obsessed with cars so I thought he'd love this book, but he didn't. I didn't realize it was "a collection of made-up facts, educated guesses, and silly pictures." I think it just had too many words to keep my child's attention and many of the "funny" things had to be explained to him.

As a parent, I hated when it talked about being a passenger in a car because other than putting on a seat belt, everything else was naughty behavior (play with the windows over and over, poke your siblings, make loud noises, spill everything).

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Lichtenheld has an amazing imagination! In this book he shares with us everything he knows about cars...the made-up ones, not the real ones. And it's a joyful ride.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book about the made up history of cars. It’s a bit long for bedtime, and I don’t see it sticking around in history, but not a bad read for a rainy day.

[Kassandra]

This is a fiction book because it is written through the knowledge of a boy on cars. It starts off by "I don't know much about real cars, but I'm an expert on made-up cars, so this book is a big traffic jam of mostly made up-cars." I really enjoyed reading this because it made me believe that it was really created by a child. The illustrations are hilarious and can keep any child preoccupied. This is a book that I would recommend to my reluctant readers, it has a lot to read but it does not feel that way because of its humor. Even though it is not a non-fiction book it would definitely make students look up some of the ideas and information that this author presents. I would have enjoyed reading this book as a child and I am very excited that there's many other books in the same format like "Everything I know about Pirates" and "Everything I know about Monsters". Even though these books were created to attract male readers, it can still be enjoyed by female readers.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A creative look at cars with tons of illustrations rendered in ink, colored pencil, gouache, and watercolor.

This would be a great read for newly independent readers because the inventive car designs and all their cool features are perfect for early elementary school student interests and sense of humor.

Following the story is a two page spread that gives budding artists some tips for drawing their own unique cars.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A car book with a Lichtenheld twist, the twist being silly humor that I can't help laughing all at all over the book. I know some of the humor kids--even older kids--won't get. But it sure makes it fun to read as an adult. This could never work in a storytime, even school-age. Too much going on with each page, and a lot of text. But fun in a lap-read or read-alone.

More of a 3.5 rating.

[Jenny Gottstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this book does not include a lot about how cars actually work, I love this imaginitive and creative book that shows that, even though children don't know a lot about the world yet, they can still dream of ways to impact it. I love the diagrams and drawings. The horse page made me laugh out loud. It's also neat that it shows children how to draw cars, too.

[Alysia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, this book is really, really silly, but my kids and I had lots of laughs reading it. Being boys, my kids appreciated all the humor, even the mild potty type, but most of it had me rolling as well. Very creative and fun.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is by the same author as "What are you so grumpy about?" I enjoyed it too, but it wasn't quite as funny. I think my husband would get a kick out of it though. And my piano students have really enjoyed reading it.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

My car-obsessed 5-year-old son wants me to read this to him way too often. I think it's a pain to read out loud (it's too long). It is clever and funny, though, and the illustrations are interesting to look at it. I think it'd be a good book for a kid who can read it to himself.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really funny book about cars. Turns out Tom Lichenheld knows as much about cars as I do (which isn't much). This book again uses good voice and fun imagination.

Very similar to "Everything I Know About Monsters"

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the art work was awesome, but the book was so hard to finish. If it's difficult for me to finish I know a preschooler wouldn't be able to sit through it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and funny made up stuff wacky stuff about some crazy dream cars. Stig loves all vehicles with wheels so this was a fun one for us.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book for the older picture reader but my three year old only wanted the pictures.

[Finny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mommy says: Finny did not want to read. He is not very interested in details about cars right now. May be more interested when he is older.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

We loved the illustrations but the story was a little over the top for Jack.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly funny. I loved this book, cover to cover.

[Carrie Charley Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A super funny and clever book. In my opinion, this appeals to an older audience, rather than 4-8.

[Angela Skevington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Total silly nonsense. I laughed so hard. I can't wait to read it again.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Must have for kids.

[Cristy Bruso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh. It's about made up cars and passenger duties. It is a great book.