Elbow Grease vs. Motozilla

Elbow Grease

by John Cena, Howard McWilliam (Illustrator)

Superstar entertainer John Cena's second picture book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series Elbow Grease, featuring a high-octane story all about teamwork!

Elbow Grease is back and about to face off against the gnarly monster machine Motozilla, but it's going to take teamwork. Luckily, Elbow Grease can count on his four big brothers to rev their engines and help him try to beat the beast! From multi-talented mega celebrity John Cena comes this exciting story about the importance of believing in yourself. Full of action-packed illustrations and characters kids will cheer for, this fun and fast-paced book proves that teamwork makes the dream work!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Trucks, Fiction, Transport, Humor, Juvenile

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2019

About the author

John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, author and television host.

Reviews

[Jeremiah]

My son loves this book. Automatic three stars for that.

Dad notes: it seems the only reason our heroes fight Motozilla is to fight Motozilla. I’m not sure my 4 year old gets that out of the story, but come on. “Hey let’s go fight this thing because I want to beat it up.” Sure it’s fun in the story, but what kind of life does this theme have outside the book?

The stuff about team work is good.

[HornFan2]

A monster truck story about teamwork making the dream work.

[Angel Torres]

This is a great sequel that doesn't live up to the genius of the first part but still shows us why we love this series, these characters and John Cena's philosophy.

[Chance Lee]

I feel seen by Elbow Grease, a truck who isn't the best at anything but is always working at self improvement. "'Elbow Grease is Best at Steady Improvement.' Elbow Grease wasn't sure that was something a fan would paint on a sign." The little detail of multiple fans looking just like John Cena, even a blonde lady, really cracked me up.

[Zahra tavakoli]

موتوزیلا ماشینی که تابع حال از هیچ ماشین دیگری شکست نخورده اما در مبارزه با کوشا و برادرانش شکست می‌خورد. چون کار گروهی یعنی قدرت فکر چندبرابر و رسیدن به موفقیت.
فقط یک نکته اینکه کتاب‌های این مجموعه زیاد به حس رقابت و حسادت وزن می‌دهد به همراه چاشنی خشونت . البته مشاهده شده که پسربچه‌ها خیلی به این مجموعه علاقه دارند.
به نظرم مناسب بالای پنج سال است.
عنوان فارسی: کوشا با موتوزیلا مبارزه می‌کند

[Ryan Rubin]

Certainly the weakest in the series.

[Edward Sullivan]

Battling a monster machine.

[Tony Petry]

Cute little picture book that I read to my daughter. This is book 2 but you don't have to read book 1. My daughter loves this book. I hope John Cena writes more Children's books.

[Kathryn (Dragon Bite Books)]

Review originally posted on my blog, Nine Pages .

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first Elbow Grease, though I’m not sure that I could put my finger on why if you asked me to do; perhaps it just isn’t living up to my expectation now that I have a more favorable expectation for Cena’s books. In the first, Elbow Grease learned the worth of his personality and how to use his skills, and his brothers learned to respect Elbow Grease. Now Elbow Grease is craving some of the adulation that his brothers receive. He decides that they need to defeat the biggest, baddest new truck in the monster truck world, and he devises a plan for he and his brothers with the help of a contraption made by their female mechanic Mel to work together to take down the monster. I don’t know. The plot and the lessons both fell more flat in this one for me, though the length was better, shorter. I really do think that this is just a case of my expectations being too inflated from the success of the previous book.

[Kate]

The lovable monster truck with Gumption is back! In this funny, heartwarming story Elbow Grease and his brothers use teamwork to take out the undeafeated Motozilla.

If you haven't read Cena's first book (Elbow Grease) its a great story about never giving up, always believing in yourself and trying your best. In this sequel Cena has taken that same message and added the element of team work and counting on others to create this funny inspiring story.

My son loves these books and not just because John Cena wrote them but because they are genuinely great stories for boys and girls. They offer realistic lessons for kids to follow and are filled with amusing anecdotes and characters. The illustrations are bright and fun also.
Highly Reccomend checking out both of these books!!
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Thank You to the publisher for #gifting us this book opinions are my own.
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For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[Barbara]

Like many youngsters, Elbow Grease often feels overshadowed by his four older siblings. They're all rougher and tougher than him, and when the cars compete in the demolition derby, they get most of the attention and adulation from the audience. Still, Elbow Grease never stops trying and improving, and he clearly has a big heart. When the boys are due to face a monster truck called Motozilla, he comes up with a plan in which the whole family bands together. Using all their different skills, they manage to bring that mighty vehicle down. The strong message of teamwork combines with a reminder that persistence and determination pay off. Fans of trucks, big cars, and underdogs will enjoy this story while being entertained by all the action and cartoon-like illustrations filled with words and sounds that are fun to say and typify a derby. Young readers won't have any trouble starting their engines once they read this book. Putting on those brakes might be an issue, though.

[Karen Gedeon]

Elbow Grease vs. Motozilla by John Cena, illustrated by Howard McWilliam – the second book in the Elbow Grease story has the monster truck brothers teaming up to win a robot challenge against the reigning champion. It is Elbow Grease who convinces the brothers they have to work together if any of them expect to beat the monster machine and it’s his plan and gumption that capitalizes on everyone’s strengths that proves to be the winning strategy. With the help of their trusty female mechanic the boys accomplish what no one else was able to do thus far because they worked as a team. . The high energy full color illustrations of monster trucks, mud and robots will draw young readers in, but the message of working together will be the real winner. Ages 3+

[Chelka Posladek]

The original Elbow Grease is super popular and has tons of great reviews. My 3-year-old was okay with it, and I didn't mind it; but neither of us loved it. This one, though, was a HUGE hit with my kiddo. I think it's because there's a bad guy in this one, and my son is in a very good-guy-vs-bad-guy stage right now. He also loves dinosaurs and monsters and cars, so Motozilla had extra appeal. My caveat is that I find these books hard to read aloud. When everyone is speaking in speech bubbles, I have to do an extra good job of changing voices and pointing to which character is saying what. Not a huge deal, but it's probably a more fun book for a slightly older kid to read to themselves.

[Molly Crow]

The 4yr old absolute favorite book! Leading up to his birthday he begged and begged for this book (& a motozilla toy, someone please make one). When opening his presents he started screaming excitedly "Is this...is this the book! Is it ... IT'S MOTOZILLA!" We've read it no less than 5x a day for a month now.

It is a fantastic story about working together to conquer a challenge that's too tough for one person. We're fans of the Elbow Grease books, but this one is our all time favorite. If you have a little one who loves monster trucks, check this book out.

[Beanling's Library]

The 4yr old absolute favorite book! Leading up to his birthday he begged and begged for this book (& a motozilla toy, someone please make one). When opening his presents he started screaming excitedly "Is this...is this the book! Is it ... IT'S MOTOZILLA!" We've read it no less than 5x a day for a month now.

It is a fantastic story about working together to conquer a challenge that's too tough for one person. We're fans of the Elbow Grease books, but this one is our all time favorite. If you have a little one who loves monster trucks, check this book out.

[Diane]

Elbow Grease isn't as flashy as his brothers Tank, Flash, Pinball and Crash. But he does haven't something that his brothers don't have: "He's the best at getting better." When Motozilla comes to town, though, they know that no one truck will beat the monster. That's when EG has a plan that's just craziest enough to work!

The virtues of teamwork, hard work and improvement are extolled in this vibrant picture book.

[Sydney Ramos]

Super Cute

My son is learning to read and he LOVES these books. He got all A’s on his progress report (he’s in Kinder) and every progress report and report card he gets to pick a toy or something that he wants as a reward and he chose these 3 books for his reward. I am so proud of him and I love that he loves to read!

[Suebee]

My six year old was immediately attracted to these books at the library.

The story is interesting enough - with teamwork, Elbow Grease and his brother trucks defeat the mighty Motozilla monster.

However, why did the illustrator include an illustration of John Cena in makeup/pearls/blond wig in one of the crowd scenes? And later a picture of “plain” John Cena in the crowd??

[Shelley]

My toddler really enjoys parts of this book, but it is incredibly frustrating that the characters aren't clearly introduced/named - there seems to be a presumption that readers will already know who is who. Sigh.

[Susan]

Not something I would normally give four stars to but the look on 3-year-old’s face while reading this was too much 🥺. I don’t think I want him to know that demolition derbies are real and that I’ve been to one though 😂

[Craig Schorling]

My children enjoyed this book much more than I anticipated. Monster trucks are not their thing but the story, characters, and illustrations drew them in immediately. There were even a couple of good chuckles along the way. The theme of teamwork is well presented and delivered.

[Joe Loncarich]

This book rocks, and if you disagree, you're a turd. Plain and simple. John Cena, if you're reading this, you are invited to come to my son's birthday party on February 13th, but only if you dress as Motozilla. Thank you for your consideration.

[Christopher Kent]

Super cute little book with a good moral on how some challenges can be too much for one person but using teamwork will get it done. Also its John fucking Cena haha, what?! Can't wait to show my son Peacemaker or WWE and blow his mind.

[A.]

Cute story about the power of teamwork -- trucks, each with their special skill, band together to defeat the unbeaten Motozilla. 'We're stronger together.'

[Miss Sarah]

An elementary and up picture book about a family of demolition cars where one is kind hearted but not the best at everything. Can he become the best at something? Nice teamwork.

[Mary]

John Cena believes in "never give up." This cute story adds "the only thing more powerful than hard work, is teamwork." good for the kids to hear over & over.

[Amanda Geske]

“Elbow Grease is best at steady improvement!”

Lol, John Cena.

[Kelly]

I'll be darned...John Cena writes children's books. And it a really good book! Loved the message in the story. The illustrations are worth the mention too...amazing.

[Nadina]

Kinda cute, I liked the story line and the 5 truck characters. The pace was good and it was a decent plot. I think kids who like trucks would really enjoy it.

[Julie]

Nice story about teamwork, great illustrations