Vroom!

by Barbara McClintock

From beloved author and artist Barbara McClintock comes Vroom!, a playful picture book following a little girl's imaginative journey in a race car.

Join a little girl as she zooms—
past fields and forests,
up mountains,
over rivers,
through deserts,
home again,
and into bed in this playful picture book about the power of imagination, from award-winning author and artist Barbara McClintock.

Genres: Picture Books, Transport, Childrens, Storytime, Cars, Adventure, Fiction

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2019

About the author

Barbara McClintock is the author and illustrator of books for children.

Her books have won 4 New York Times Best Books awards, a New York Times Notable Book citation, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor award, numerous other awards, recommended/best book lists, and starred reviews. Her books have been made into children's videos, a ballet/opera, and a recorded books on tape.

Barbara drew constantly as a child. By the time she was seven, she knew she would be an artist when she grew up. Her older sister recommended she be a childrens' book illustrator, and this proved to be a rare instance when she followed her sister's advice. Barbara also wanted to be a cat when she grew up, and is glad she had art as a back up plan.

The first part of Barbara's growing up was in Clinton, NJ. Her early influences were her photographer father, seamstress/teacher mother, and the cartoon character Top Cat.

Barbara moved to North Dakota when she was 9 with her mother and sister after her parents divorced. She continued to draw through middle and high school, frequently in the margins of her tests and homework.

Barbara attended Jamestown College in North Dakota, where she refined her drawing skills by copying pictures in artbooks she checked out of her college library.

Two weeks after her 20th birthday, Barbara moved to New York City to begin her career on the recommendation of Maurice Sendak, whon she called from North Dakota for advice about how to become a children's book illustrator.

Barbara studied for two months at the Art Student's League in New York City. She continued to copy from art books she checked out of libraries, and sketched paintings and drawings in museums in New York City. Barbara is essentially self-taught as an artist/illustrator.

After illustrating books written by other authors, Barbara began writing as well as producing the artwork for her own books.

She currently lives in rural Connectucut with the illustrator David A. Johnson, their cats Pip and Emma, and David's truly gorgeous rose garden.

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annie's face when she's stuck in traffic really spoke to me.

[Faith Elizabeth Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it deserves something from the 2020 Caldecotts. I just love McClintock's artwork; this is looser (for lack of a better word) than her other illustrations, but absolutely perfect for the story.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Girls can do anything in this story about Annie who aspires to be and imagines herself as a race car driver.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustration style is lovely, evocative, and nostalgic; but I feel I should speak on behalf of all redheads: we don't need this much representation! There are SO MANY BOOKS about redheads, and we're genetically dying out so don't bother! People with red hair represent just 2% of the population worldwide, but somehow red hair has morphed into visual shorthand for "zany" or "not everyone in this crowd looks alike, but not too different!"

I am nothing if not thorough, so I counted all the people with visible hair (each once, i.e. Annie's parent got counted once and appeared twice) and 10% are redheads. I get that illustrators need to differentiate people in a crowd somehow, but why with red hair? There are no people with disabilities (12% of the population) and only 6 with eyeglasses (64% of the adult population). Don't even get me started on the lack of body diversity! This is just the people in the background too, because the foreground is just a white girl with red hair driving a high polluting car!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

GAH, I loved this one! Will the caregivers care if I read this at every storytime here on out and sing Woody Guthrie's "Car" song? I'm ready for the next road trip.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like so many youngsters, Annie loves driving around in her sports car. At first, things seem normal, but when she blasts out of her bedroom and above the ground, it's clear that much of her journey takes place in her imagination. The book's illustrations show her driving fast through flatlands, over mountains, into the desert, and even in city traffic. It's clear that urban driving is much more challenging than driving in the country. After she speeds through a race, she returns home where her father and brother are eagerly awaiting her and a bedtime read. While I liked the story well enough since it represents an imaginative child and an experience with which many youngsters can relate, what really appealed to me here was how much of her room was devoted to automobile memorabilia--posters, books, model cars, a traffic light, a car-detected comforter, and even hubcaps on the wall. It's clear that this young girl has a supportive father who wants her to follow her dreams and interests. Readers will love the last page featuring the three family members cuddled on the bed as the father reads from a book entitled Cars and her little brother looks with keen interest at her care. The family cat and dog are also observing all of this with some curiosity. It's neat to pay attention to the car-related terminology sprinkled within the text. Reading this one will surely cause many youngsters to gun their own engines in anticipation of a speedy start of their own.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annie takes a drive around her town in her little car one evening. She races up and down a mountain, into the desert, over a bridge and into a city, around a racetrack, and right back into her room. Three cheers for a strong female protagonist, detailed illustrations to pore over, and the power of imagination. I love that the author's bio shows her posing in front of a race car, too!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone is talking in their reviews about this sweet little book and a little girl's journey through her imagination before bedtime and how it lacks depth or expression or other nonsense like that.... Oh my goodness, did y'all not see the grass and the mud on that car on the last page? Imagination didn't put that there, folks, really.

Also, it wasn't sweetness on her face when she is stuck in traffic (haha); I recognized that expression! I have often felt that way! Check out all the details: there are animals on almost every page, and all sorts of funny things happening. Much more depth happening here in this "simple little sweet story."

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

One evening, Annie puts on her helmet and gloves and drives her car right out her bedroom window and out onto the road. The road is straight and flat, just right for driving really fast. When she reaches the mountains, the road gets curvy and cold, then descends into the hot desert. She drives through a forest, then across a huge bridge and into a city where she gets caught in traffic for awhile. She goes fast through the traffic jam, and then faster onto a racetrack. Getting tired, she heads for home, arriving just in time for a bedtime story about cars.

This picture book embraces imaginative play in a little girl’s world as she pretends to be taking the perfect drive. Her white car is pristine at the beginning of the story and ends up covered in dirt and grass with a little smoke coming out of the hood. Annie doesn’t bother to slow down much and not even her imaginary traffic jam can hold her for long. The book, just like Annie, is fast moving with just enough words to hold the story together. The illustrations are filled with the dust of Annie’s racing past. Done in bright colors, the world around her is friendly and vivid with Annie at its center going fast.

A wild ride of a book that is a joy. Appropriate for ages 2-5.

[Laurie Hnatiuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

@barbaramcclintockart book Vroom took me on a wonderful trip! I loved the illustrations captured in Annie's race car drive. Annie using her imagination VRoooooms out of her bedroom and takes us on what reminded me of a cross country drive. The open road takes us to snowy capped mountains the prairie landscape, a towering woody forest until we reach the city where we are slowed down by traffic and Annie heads home knowing there are many adventures in her car in the days ahead. So much to love - female race car drives, simple effective text and as stated earlier gorgeous photos that will allow kids to connect to their own road trips and landscapes they've seen. I'm flagging Annie in for the win!

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie hops into her toy car and zooms (or vrooms) off into the diverse destinations of her imagination. Up mountains, through deserts and woods, and even into the big, congested city she goes. The text is succinct, which seems appropriate for a book that deals so much with speed, but McCintock makes sure to include some descriptive words to set the scenes. Eventually Annie tires, and returns home (creating a scene of surprised and windswept family members I'm particularly fond of) to go to bed. If you read the author bio on the back flap, you'll learn that the inspiration comes from the author's own life. The sports-car-driving author had a toy car like the one in the book when she was young. McClintock also has exuberant curls like Annie's, which I imagine is no accident. A winner.

[FM Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun but a bit simple of a story, a departure from the highly detailed other stories we've read from Barbara McClintock and not an extremely successful one. Basically a girl goes out imagining herself driving in a racecar all over the place after dinner and then comes home. One of those stories that kind of lacks any sense of development or tension, so in the end you're like "huh, what's the point?" felt a bit more suited to be a board book with the level of simplicity, but maybe my expectations were too high given how much we enjoyed Adele & Simon and Dahlia. My three year old paid attention but didn't seem very enthusiastic.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vroom! has the perfect mix of simple & busy illustrations that many will adore. Annie takes off on a journey in her speedy white race car, and drives through all sorts of places, carefree as can be-- over a snowy mountain, through the desert, the forest, and a busy (traffic filled) city! Annie is very passionate about cars, and that's one of the biggest reasons I adore this book; girls can be race car drivers, too! She drives an exciting road trip for all at breakneck speeds.

[Effie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An imaginative journey book in the vein of Harold and the Purple Crayon or Where the Wild things are, but the protagonist is a girl in a race car. It's nice. Maybe lacks the depth of these other examples. There's no emotional journey or anything like that, just a fun ride in a race car and home again to bed, but it does introduce concepts of flat terrain, mountains, desert, forest, river, and city.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The young girl in this story takes readers on an amazing adventure in her race car. As she's staring out her bedroom window, the girl puts on her helmet and takes off across fields, over mountains, through the woods, and back home again - just in time for bed. This book kind of reminds me of the ride down the river a young girl takes in the book A River by Marc Martin. This could be a good mentor text for young writers who wish to describe an adventurous journey.

[Kifflie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this four stars for the subject matter rather than the execution. Little Annie jumps into her race car and takes off on an imaginary journey through all sorts of terrain and traffice conditions, ending up on a race track (and winning!). I love that there is a picture book out there for little girls who love cars and going fast. The illustrations are very good, but I wish there had been just a bit more text.

[Stephanie Croaning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl loves race cars and spends a fantastical day racing around different places in the world -- mountains, fields, the crowded city, and a racetrack -- until she finds a familiar home and races home to read a bedtime story with her father.

Barbara McClintock's illustrations in this book are very well done and I would encourage you to really spend some time noticing her use of perspective. Each illustration foreshadows the next stop on the young girl's trip.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, imaginative story. A little girl goes for an imaginary drive in her race car before bed. The text is brief enough for little guys and the illustrations are full of fun little details (especially animals) to spot. Gentle humor, a fun drive through different landscapes, and some subtle girl power.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A feisty little redhead drives her silver race car all over the country one night in her imagination (or is it her imagination?) right before bedtime. McClintock's illustrations are more sparse, and not as detailed as in some of her other books, perhaps because this story is aimed at younger children, but they are still colorful and appealing.

[Tina Hoggatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific flight of empowered imagination as Annie hops in her race car and goes for a long, exciting drive before returning to her bedroom, ready for sleep. A testament to independence and the pleasure of 'driving' yourself. Simply and beautifully illustrated by the author. What a sure hand she has.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl with awesome hair takes a journey of the imagination. There's not much story here: the plot serves mostly to highlight the author's fine artwork.

[robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't write a lot of reviews. This book seems so unnecessary. Been there, done that, and done better. It seems the only reason for this book is to put a girl behind the wheel of a racecar (and an imaginary one at that). Not impressed, really bland. Maybe the simple imagery may inspire, but it didn't inspire me. Sorry.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie gets ready for bed in her special driving clothes, and her helmet, and hops in her car to take a ride through the country discovering different landscapes, cities, races, and traffic on her way to bed. And then she and her brother and father settle down for a story about cars. Colorful illustrations.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very imaginative book. I can see this being used in a storytime setting, with kids pretending they are driving like Annie does. Though it's a short book, the illustrations of the different terrains (mountain, forest, desert, city) have some pretty landscapes in them, and it would be fun to ask kids, "Where is she now?"

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute little story with fun illustrations, but nothing too exciting in this book. It's a good book for kids ages 4-7 who enjoy cars. Since there aren't many car books that have a girl as the main character, I suppose that this book does have its place-- I just didn't find it altogether amazing. I did enjoy the imaginative plot though.

[Carol V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girls can drive race cars, too! This is a cute story of a little girl with a large imagination! Her bedroom is all decked out in race car decorations. Especially sweet is the bedtime story with dad in bed with the little children reading about cars. This page drives home the fact that reading to children builds their thoughts, dreams, imaginations, vocabularies, family bonds, and desires!

[Laura Giessler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to have a book with a girl who loves to drive a car fast and a supportive dad. I especially loved the car zooming out the window at the beginning of the book. Seems like a simple book, but if you take the time, there are a lot of quirky things to notice in the illustrations (notice the grass, dirt, heat on the car at the end of the book; animals on nearly every page).

[Ann Haefele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book that uses imagination with a girl who loves cars, race cars in particular, and drives through the country, desert, city, and even a racetrack before heading home for bed. Loved the actions of people she passes in their cars (some passengers reading, singing, drinking coffee). Also enjoyed the last page with all the car memorabilia in her bedroom.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vroom is a lovely, imaginative race car drive through parts of America, as Annie puts on her helmet and drives out her bedroom window before bed. A wonderful introduction to different iconic scenes of American landscape viewed through the power of imagination by a little girl in charge of her own world.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While its true that my little boy likes books about cars, and my little girl doesn't so much....it's important to show books with little girls driving the cars. Whether it's the boy or the girl who reads it. And the little heroine of this book, has an adventure with her car and imagination that takes her everywhere.