The Wheels On The Race Car

by Alexander Zane, James Warhola (Illustrations)

Best-selling artist James Warhola and author Alex Zane have created a fun, read-aloud picture book with rhyming text and wonderfully amusing illustrations inspired by the song THE WHEELS ON THE BUS.

"Racers start your engines! The drivers in the race car yell, 'Go, go, go! Go, go, go! Go, go, go!' The drivers in the race car yell, 'Go, go, go!' at the starting line."

Get ready for a rambunctious race car adventure by best-selling artist James Warhola and author Alex Zane. Here at the racetrack, animals are busy from start to finish zipping, zooming, and zizzing. See if you can keep up with these daredevils and their fans as they race to the finish line with text inspired by the song THE WHEELS ON THE BUS.

Genres: Picture Books, Transport, Childrens, Cars, Animals, Storytime, Racing

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Hannah Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Wheels on the Racecar" sounds like a song. There is a television show called "The Wheels on the Bus" and there is a song very similar to this book except for it was about riding on a school bus. This book teaches us about races. If a reader would attend an actual race then he or she would see the same aspects at a race.

[Richard Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I nice series of rounds that a boy into car racing will like.

[Rachel Solomin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lively illustrations cannot make up for an unoriginal text with meter that doesn't fit the song on which it is based.

[Dedra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun! Kids will love doing all the movements (shown in the endpapers) as we read the story together.

[Library To-Go]

07/12/23 Pediatrust - JC

[Jane Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

With my grandson in mind, this book blended the rhythm of a favorite song -The Wheels on the bus- with his current race car obsession. The illustrations are beautiful with a wry humor built in.

[Megan Cureton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story takes a spin on the old rhyme of wheels on the bus and takes it to wheels on the race cars with animals driving. The animals were in a competition for who could win first place and the trophy at the end. I loved that this book had plenty of examples of words that were spelled out sound effects. I really enjoy these kinds of books when I come across them because I really feel like they help beginning readers, like kindergarteners really focus on their mouth movements and the sounds that the letters of the alphabet make. I would definitely have this book in my classroom library for kindergarteners and first graders and also I could see myself using this book for a read aloud. I would have the students draw pictures of the sound words and what they think of when they hear that sound word, or maybe even have them think of some more sounds that we make that we could spell out. I feel the students would enjoy this activity. Another thing I liked about this book was the fact that the reader had to examine and really look at thee illustration to know which animal the author was talking about. For example, in the end of book, the author never came out and said who won the race, but if the reader looked at the illustrations, they could easily look at the picture and see it was a dog, with the trophy in its hand. I like that the author and the illustrator wanted the reader to focus on the illustrations and show how important illustrations can be to a story to fully understand the story and to know exactly what is going on. This could even be good for students that don't fully know how to read because they might still be able to understand the story just by examining the illustrations. I really enjoyed this book and thought the illustrations and text were awesome.

[Krista Saxman]

Book Title: The Wheels on the Racecar by Alexander Zane

Short Description of the Book: Fountas and Pinnell Level I; Narrative text about race cars with repetitive text using the format from The Wheels on the Bus song. Vivid illustrations.

FOCUS: Features I would Use in a Mini-Lesson:
This book can be used to model use of onomatopoeia and use of commas.

TEACH: CCSS Connection:
3.L.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
a. Choose words and phrases for effect.

5.L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a. Use punctuation to separate items in a series.

1. The teacher will read aloud the story to the students several times. Teacher will use think alouds to help students identify genre.
2. Students will be asked to identify repeating onomatopoeia and guide students in defining the use of these words. Why do you think the other uses this?
3. Students will be asked to come up with their own sentences using onomatopoeia. They will first tell a partner, then write it in their writer's notebooks.
4. Students will be asked during narrative writing tasks to try to include this in their writing for effect.
5. The teacher can also demonstrate the appropriate use of commas. Students can practice this use given a model from the teacher within their writer's notebooks. "I do, we do, you do" teaching approach.

Expected Outcome: Students will be able to identify and use onomatopoeia and commas within the mentor text provided and within their own writing.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story/writing here is satisfying enough - how hard can it be to write a parody of The Wheels On The Bus, after all? What sets this book apart from dozens of others is the wonderful, creative, character filled illustrations by James Warhola.

(I can never resist pointing out that he is Andy Warhol's nephew, and got his first art materials from his famous uncle)

Warhola makes every page one you can pour over - notice how often the monkey is flinging banana peels over his shoulder! See how crappy the penguin always seems! Look at all the hustle and bustle in the pit scenes and crowd scenes. Check out how the cars are all sponsored by something relevant to the driver. All kids like to look at books over and over and over again, and they will keep finding fun new details!

And bonus with the original Wheels or any parody of it, this books lends itself to active/interactive read aloud perfectly. Kids can stand and turn as the wheels go round and round - or they can roll their hands round and round. They can make those satisfying Vroom-Vroom-Vroom sounds, they can Go-Go-Go and and Zip-Zip-Zip! They will also like steering and zizzing and glugging and clever teachers or parents will have engaged, smiling kids playing and moving.

This is a good one - enjoy it with some kids today!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great rewrite of the classic story The Wheels on the Bus. LOVE the detailed drawings and humor of the illustrator as seen in the animal expressions throughout the book. The animals are so well-drawn, and it is fun to search for a particular animal driver on each page and see his expressions, how his car is designed, and what he is doing as he races to the finish line. We love the penguin throwing out fish and the monkey throwing out bananas! A very fun read with a three year old! Wonderful read aloud, great for Nascar fans, great for art class (perspective - looking through the rear view mirror, etc.)

[Audeena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: I honestly don't know what this is
Copyright Date: 2005

Well the kids know the wheels on the bus sing a long book we have in class and they were getting bored so I found the wheels on the race car. I thought this would be a hit since I have all boys in my preschool. The book is pretty cute some of the verses don't make much sense, other do. The kids like this book and my copy came with a CD so it reads the book with sound effects and music and that is much cooler than when I read it so it was nice to just be a page flipper for once!

[Heather Bowden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, it is to the beat of the wheels on the bus, a lot of children can sing the words to the book and I feel like they will like it because they have that connection. It comes with a CD with the book being sung so it's very child friendly.
The pictures in the book are well illustrated, they have a lot of details, which children will like to look at.
There's not really a story line, it just goes through the process of a race. They have the start of the race, the middle (when they change tires, add gas to the car, then go back out to the track), and the end with a winner.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this was definitely a cool take on the traditional Wheels on the Bus song, coming up with motions for every verse proved to be a bit of a challenge. The kids enjoyed making all of the different noises that came with the verses, but motions would make it even better. Something to work on for the future.

Read during Toddler Time on February 12th, 2018.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun race car version of the wheels on the bus song. The drivers and audience are a variety of animals.
Busy illustrations, good for discussion, animal labeling, etc.
My son just loves books that you sing....

[Brent Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is about animals that race cars. This book provides a lot of sound effects and noises that the reader can read and really get into the book. There are many animals involved in the race. Read to find out who wins! Does the dog win? Elephant? Moose?

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wheels on the race car by Alexander Zane
Cute little children's audio story in synch with the wheels on the bus. This story tells of race day and the actual race
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice variation on the ever popular kids song, with great sounds to make and a complete story line.

[Sydney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great illustrations, lame premise. Rip off of "the wheels on the bus," but with race cars.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think "wheels on the bus" song, but with race cars.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adaptation of wheels on the bus but with race cars instead.

[Ramsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

liked the details of the pictures and the sing song text.

[Emily Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book goes to the tune of The Wheels On the Bus. It has great illustrations and tells the story of the adventures of a car race. It is a fun read and gets kids motivated to read.

[Katie Jelinek · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book goes to the tune of The Wheels On the Bus. It has great illustrations and tells the story of the adventures of a car race. It is a fun read and gets kids motivated to read.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animal race car drivers roar around the track. Text based on the popular song, The Wheels on the Bus.

[Damien Cowger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations create an hilarious narrative. The meter is all jacked up.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young kiddos have a ton of fun singing/doing the hand motions to a variation of Wheels on the Bus song. Excellent for a transportation storytime.

[Justin Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just replace "Race Car" with "Bus" and be amused that it was illustrated by Andy Warhol's nephew.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Might be a fun choice for storytime

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new use of "the wheels on the bus," this version is animals on a race track. Lots of action and great pictures.

[Spike Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

While losing money at the tracks, author Zane concocted a worse version of The Wheels on the Bus (apparently possible). Must have blackmailed Warhola to illustrate.