I'm Fast!

I'm ...! - Machines at Work

by Kate McMullan, Jim McMullan (Illustrator)

From Kate and Jim McMullan, the popular creators of I Stink! and I’m Dirty! —now a streaming animated series—comes an irresistible read-aloud about trains, a perennial kid favorite. WHEELS on the RAILS, ALL night long,
Racin’ and a-rumblin’ the FREIGHT TRAIN song—
Chooka chooka chooka chooka

Meet one hard workin’ freight train. He’s got to get to Chicago on time and nothing is going to stop him. Mountains? Not a chance! Cows? Out of his way, ladies! He’s going to get there—and fast!

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

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Kate McMullan is an American children's book author.
She is the author of the Dragon Slayers' Academy series. She is married to author and illustrator James McMullan.

She also has books published under the name: Katy Hall.

Reviews

[Matt]

A zippy red sports car and a freight train. Who would win a race between the two? You'd be surprised, as Neo surely was in this story. The book explores the ins and outs of freight trains, as well as some of the 'shortcuts' in their arsenal on the way to Chicago. Neo loved the story, but wanted more information on how trains get so fast.

[Kimberly]

I wasn't blown away by this one, but I have to take the kids' opinions into view--and they LOVED it. Even the two little guys with Autism who don't usually care about storytime were practically in my lap (I guess wheels really are part of the Y chromosome...oy) and all of the kids wanted to join in making noises, counting the train cars, etc. When I said, "The End!" a first-grader said, "I LOVE that book!" So, there you have it. Rave reviews from the tiny humans is worth a whole star upgrade in my book. :)

[Sarah]

The summary on the copyright page just says "A train and a car race each other to Chicago." So it was a happy surprise to see "Sacramento" illustrated on a sign on the first page, indicating that's where the race is starting. The text is all dialogue, the train speaking.

[Emma]

I have to admit that I don't think this book is anything to write home about. The race plot is secondary and scattered, and I was irritated with the way the text toys with rhythm and rhyme just a couple times (worse than not at all). HOWEVER. If a preschooler says "That was a good story" just after you finish reading a book in storytime, you have to bump it up a star. I don't make the rules; I just follow them.

[carrietracy]

We hid this from the kid until we can return it to the library. He loves anything with cars and trains, but this doesn't make any sense and lacks any real continuity or plot. The pictures are cute though?

[Elisabeth]

Not the best book in the "I'm" book series but a freight train and race car together in ONE book?! Some little ones are about to have their MIND BLOWN. :)

[Vivian]

This may be my TOP CHOICE of TRAIN picture books to share in a pre-school age library story time.
There's a race between a hot red car and a train.
The train first hails the YARD CREW to load the FLATCAR (lumber), the GONDOLA (bricks), the COIL CAR (steel), the TANK CAR (gas), the GRAVEL BIN, etc.
I love all the phrases, such as THROTTLE UP! ROLL! and the onomonapia such as "chooka chooka chooka chooka and vvrrrrrooooommmmm! While chugging along more cars are introduced -- the AUTO-RACK (cars), FREEZER CAR (ice-cream bars), BOXCARS (boxes of food to make pizza) and by the way, we're "EATIN' UP track!" Besides all this there's plenty of drama (action?) DUCK! There's a mountain ahead. Notice the word mountain typographically imitates a mountain. There's a tunnel. Make a horn blowing sound (Toooooo! Tooooo!
The fun never stops.

[Landon Turnbull]

I'm Fast is a book about a train and a car racing to Chicago, and it provides all of the obtsacles and stops that they run into on the way there. The illutsraions are very fun and detailed, but the words are sometimes hard to follow as they are in different spots throughout the pages. The book does hold some interesting words that represent the different sounds in the story like "vroom" and "chooka chooka chooka." I feel like this book could be used in a classroom when introducing different vehicles that are used in the world today, and what they are used for. I also think it could be a book that is just in the classroom library because it is fun and entertaining, and students who are interested in cars and trains might have a good time with it.

[Lynn Davidson]

This is one of a series. In this book a car challenges a train to see who can reach the same destination first. The author uses short phrases and great action words. Very nice illustrations.
This is a fun story for young readers.

[Danielle Robertson Robertson]

Good but kind of clunky to read - I guess the train has an accent or slang? Ultimately I liked the other "I'm [Smart, Stinky, etc.]" Other books in this collection much better. I read "I'm Smart" (the bus one) first and I liked that one the best.

[Vanessa]

I like the sound effects that you can make with this book! It’s really cute and teaches the different train car things (I didn’t even know them). Highly recommend for younger kiddos for the fun sound effects you can make with them.

[Sheri]

A train and a race car challenge each other in a race to Chicago. Train by track and car by road. The car has to go around mountains and use roads. And the train uses track and tunnels, and the car fights traffic. Colorful illustrations and the kinds of freight train cars are shown.

[Lauren]

Choo-choo-choose this book if you want a rootin' tootin' time, I guess. This is one of those that appeals to kids but feels tiresome to adults, especially if you have read more than one train book because they are all pretty much this. Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-choo-oo!!

[Sarah]

Doesn’t teach kids the best manners but my two year old has requested I read it on repeat since he found it at the library. I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard him riding his bike saying “holy cow! You have to move it! Thanks, ladies!”

[Deb]

I checked out several McMullan books from the library. This is my favorite so far. I like the race aspect of the plot, the educational aspect, and the sound effects. Alena likes them too.

[Michelle]

I will never understand the popularity of these books, but my son loves them.

[Jacqueline]

A favorite of my kindergarteners!

[Miss Sarah]

A train and a car race across the country in this fast and filled with sounds preschool and up book

[Nadina]

Aww this was adorable, I loved the ending. Good illustrations and a good story, I liked the listing of the various types of train car. I think kids would really enjoy this.

[Sevi Sather]

Not great. Worse than the others in the series.

[Owen and Nathan]

Even as train lovers this book was not enjoyable. The story was all over the place and used broken English.

[Pug]

"Chooka chooka"????
Dumb story, nonsense sounds. Like nails on a chalkboard.

[Trish]

Really cute book — my grandsons will love it!

[Roberto Galindo]

Not the most original but easy to follow and I'm a way boring. the drawings are not bad.

[Sy’s Shelf]

i liked that they are racing to chicago. that’s where i am right now!

[Heather]

Pre-K or toddler storytime book. So many good sounds to make!

[David]

I'm Fast! by Kate McMullan, illustrated by Jim McMullan is the tale of a race from Sacremento to Chicago between a red car, and a train pulling freight.

After agreeing to a race, the train engine hooks up to freight cars including a flatcar, gondola, coil car, tank car, hopper, freezer car, boxcar, stack-car, and auto-rack. They cross a mountain, encounter snow, travel through the night, scatter cows, cross a bridge, and pull into Chicago with the train there first!

The text uses a large, bold font, featuring larger print for some sounds and action words. Some text is in different colors. Among the contents being pulled are lumber, bricks, steel, gas, gravel, ice cream bars, wheat, eggs, tomatoes, peppers, and cheese.

McMullan's illustrations remind me a bit of the Cars movies, especially with the racing theme. There is a lot of humor in the expressions of the train and the car. My favorite images include the cover, the freight yard, entering the tunnel, train in the tunnel, exiting the tunnel, boxcar contents, train scattering cows, over the bridge, train winning, and the final image.

This will please young train lovers and those who like playing with cars. Kids will enjoy making many of the sounds. This is not the best of the vehicle series by the McMullan's but is still fun and will please and entertain many. Recommended for school and public library collections.

For ages 2.5 to 6, cars, trains, races, series, transportation, and fans of Kate McMullan and Jim McMullan.

[Sylvie Gold]

A bit of light fun for Kindergarten after two unit-based books that were a bit over their heads. We all had fun with the "chooka chooka" sound effects.

[Whitney]

Things get heated up in quickly the book, I'm Fast!, whenever a speedy little car and a train decide to race one another to Chicago. Each page shows a different car that train has to pull. The train even transports pizza and ice-cream bars, which is always a favorite food with young readers. The train is competitive as he is racing to beat the little car zipping through all the turns. The train ends up winning and instead of bragging about his accomplishment, he offers the car a ride on his boxcar. Readers are taught that any race is simply for fun and we should always have a good attitude whether we win or lose. This book is full of descriptive words that easily keep the readers attention. While reading, it makes me feel like I too am a train racing as I as read aloud, "Choo choo." The train passes through lots of different sceneries that keeps the readers attention. From desert to farmland, it feels like we've been everywhere once we finish the book.


This book would be best for children kindergarten age and younger. The brief dialogue and vivid illustrations would keep a young boys attention.

[babyhippoface]

First Kate & Jim McMullan brought us I Stink!, followed by I'm Dirty!, I'm Bad!, and I'm Mighty! Now they've brought us the story of a train who's really, really fast. And it's pretty cool.

Engine decides to race Little Red Car to Chicago when he's challenged, but first he has to load his freight. He's got a gondola car full of bricks, a hopper full of gravel, a flat car of lumber, a coil car with steel, a freezer car loaded with ice cream bars, and more. There's even a car loaded with cars!

During the race, the train gets some shortcuts while the car is delayed. The train goes through the mountain while the car has to go over it. The train plows through the snow when the car can't make it.

I learned something from this picture book, too. There are two big rigs loaded on the train, and the drivers are sleeping soundly inside as they roll down the tracks. Did not know they did that. Cool.

I read this to PreK today, and they really liked it. One little boy said,