Revver the Speedway Squirrel
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
The author of the bestselling Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site picture books makes her middle grade debut in this utterly delightful, illustrated series perfect for fans of Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle.
Meet Revver: a little squirrel with big dreams . . . to drive a race car! His siblings might not understand his need for speed, but Revver doesn't care. And he certainly doesn't care about looking for food, climbing trees, or any other "ordinary" squirrel activity. He spends his days staring at the racetrack just below his nest, where the cars zoom by day in and day out.
When Revver finally gets the chance to sneak out to the track, he finds that becoming part of the pit crew is more difficult than he expected. He never learned anything about engines in Squirrel School! Then Revver meets tire changer Bill, who luckily has a soft spot for animals. Can Revver prove to Bill that he deserves to be part of the team?
Perfect for fans of Ralph S. Mouse, Revver the Speedway Squirrel is a funny, action-packed, and heartwarming story about family, feeling different, and following your heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The author of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and its offshoots makes her middle grade debut in this series launch introducing a squirrel mesmerized by the zooming vehicles populating the racetrack below his family nest. Despite Revver's need for speed, the story gets off to a poky start, given undue repetition of that fact as well as lengthy dialogue that establishes the squirrel siblings' personalities. Only insightful Sprite the sole female sibling, saddled alongside their mother with emotional labor in the form of caretaking and peacemaking encourages her brother to pursue his dream of joining the human-only speedway pit crew, while constantly-in-motion Bounce and incessant eater Farty spend their days living up to their monikers. With a boost from spry cartoons by Willan (the Jasper & Ollie series), which comically capture Revver's spunk, the novel's pace picks up after he ventures into the track, where he befriends the mixed-gender pit crew and learns the mechanics of car racing. There he at last feels understood, learns the importance of teamwork and the value of family, and after his curiosity and impulsiveness recurrently trigger mayhem uses life lessons he's absorbed to save the day. A sweet if sometimes overly descriptive tale. Ages 8 11.
