I have political heartburn over John Cena. Let me start by stating John is a great athlete, actor, and apparently speaks fluent Mandarin. But John works for Disney, and Disney is in tight with the CCP. A few years back, John mentioned on the air, (wrong-speak in China) identifying Taiwan as a country. This apparently was escalated and John groveled on Chinese TV apologizing for the wrong speak.
Taiwan is an ancient ally of the United States, living in the shadow of a great Communist tyrant which has murdered around 100 million people in the 20th century. To knuckle under to a tyrant over $$ at the expense of a bullied ally is unconscionable.
Frankly this is a masterclass on book reviewing BECAUSE this subject is a short book easily understood by even the doofiest of doofuses. Therefore the arguments are strong and the flaws of the novel are completely clear. And if a book review doesn't lead me to a dramatic drink spray at least once, what is even the point?
Although I would say per, “ At best, it demonstrates that if you show up, some freak event might occur in your favor.” 90% of life is just showing up. I’m a firm believer in that adage.
It reminds me of my own childhood epiphany: watching Sesame Street, they had Savion Glover singing a song about how "You can do anything you set your mind to!" while tap dancing. And in that moment I realized -- no matter how hard I might set my mind to it, I would never, ever be able to tap dance like Savion Glover.
I loved this. With two toddlers I spend a lot of time contemplating the deeper meanings of children's books. A lot of them suffer from a moral that's not really supported by the plot, but I've rarely seen it laid out so clearly.
Incredible review. I have a 2 year old godson who loves trucks, and have been trying to figure out a good christmas gift. Somehow, improbably, this review talked me into giving Cena another book sale.
This was a very good read, but I disagreed with enough of it that I now find myself in the awkward position of wanting to defend a book I don’t like.
From a pure plot standpoint, I should point out, it’s unlikely that Elbow Grease will run out of charge again on his next go at the derby. It’s explicit in the text that he was only low on juice because he drove all night and entered the race illicitly. Presumably next time he’ll start with a full battery.
I didn’t see the the advanced vocabulary of the smart brother, Pinball, as an opportunity for mockery. The smart brother is placed in opposition not only to the dumb brother, but also to the brave brother and the fast brother. We’re not supposed to belittle Flash for being fast! Being smart is, again explicitly, Pinball’s virtue (and he incidentally gets the best line in the book: “I am currently on fire”).
But I’ll admit I skipped over some of Pinball’s verbiage when I read the book to my 2yo, as I did 100,000X before we returned it to the library. Maybe I’d be more bitter about the book if I’d actually bought it.
The bar for truck books is pretty low, and I’ve read so many that are mostly just sound effects (“Vroom! Crunch! Here comes the excavator!”) that I appreciated Cena crafting a story that involves sentences and a plot. The story *is* incoherent, but in part this incoherence is endemic to the “little machine” genre. There’s always a little snowplow or bulldozer, and everyone makes fun blah blah. But of course part of the point of being a small child is that you will, in fact, grow, and in growing become more competent. Machines cannot grow, and I don’t really know how to reconcile this fact with the narratives I keep reading to my kid. What does it mean when we see children, i.e. tiny cars, in the Pixar Cars franchise? Will they shuck off their metal carapace like an arthropod shedding its exoskeleton? I can never tell how much of a curmudgeon I’m being when I complain about these things. I mean, trucks don’t have eyes, either. They can’t even talk!
I think the “message” of this book, insofar as one exists, is expressed in the cliché “You miss every shot you don’t take,” or, as Ashida Kim once wrote, “What will happen in one’s own life is already written, but one must choose to be there. This is the Way of the Ninja.” There was virtue in Elbow Grease’s effort, even if he did not win, and even if he had not been struck by lightning. It doesn’t matter than EG finished the race any more than it matters that he came in last.
Note how when the brothers try to do the things they’re not good at, as the end of the book insists is the best way to live one’s life, that they are in fact really bad at them. As already noted, Pinball literally sets himself on fire. (Having Crash, the daredevil brother, be bad as reading safety regulations is also a solid gag.) I guess the idea that we should try things we’re bad at is not the worst message I’ve gotten from a children’s book.
But I don’t know if the book is very efficient at conveying this message.
LOVED this! Thank you Freddie—and thank you Carina; I've always appreciated your prolific commenting here :)
This is a very fun review, with a good tie-in to some the themes that show up on this blog and in FDB's book. Congrats Carina.
This may be the best book review of all time.
Great review on a so-so book.
I have political heartburn over John Cena. Let me start by stating John is a great athlete, actor, and apparently speaks fluent Mandarin. But John works for Disney, and Disney is in tight with the CCP. A few years back, John mentioned on the air, (wrong-speak in China) identifying Taiwan as a country. This apparently was escalated and John groveled on Chinese TV apologizing for the wrong speak.
Taiwan is an ancient ally of the United States, living in the shadow of a great Communist tyrant which has murdered around 100 million people in the 20th century. To knuckle under to a tyrant over $$ at the expense of a bullied ally is unconscionable.
“confident that my own son would fare better than the reviewer’s simple grandchild” -- this line sent me
Frankly this is a masterclass on book reviewing BECAUSE this subject is a short book easily understood by even the doofiest of doofuses. Therefore the arguments are strong and the flaws of the novel are completely clear. And if a book review doesn't lead me to a dramatic drink spray at least once, what is even the point?
That was brilliantly written!
Although I would say per, “ At best, it demonstrates that if you show up, some freak event might occur in your favor.” 90% of life is just showing up. I’m a firm believer in that adage.
It reminds me of my own childhood epiphany: watching Sesame Street, they had Savion Glover singing a song about how "You can do anything you set your mind to!" while tap dancing. And in that moment I realized -- no matter how hard I might set my mind to it, I would never, ever be able to tap dance like Savion Glover.
I loved this. With two toddlers I spend a lot of time contemplating the deeper meanings of children's books. A lot of them suffer from a moral that's not really supported by the plot, but I've rarely seen it laid out so clearly.
Success is all luck and lightning. Sounds like too much Critical Truck Theory too early.
Incredible review. I have a 2 year old godson who loves trucks, and have been trying to figure out a good christmas gift. Somehow, improbably, this review talked me into giving Cena another book sale.
Great book review! I didn't think a review of a kid book could be so entertaining.
Great review.
Thank you for this wonderful review, and thanks to Freddie for picking such a deserving winner.
This was a very good read, but I disagreed with enough of it that I now find myself in the awkward position of wanting to defend a book I don’t like.
From a pure plot standpoint, I should point out, it’s unlikely that Elbow Grease will run out of charge again on his next go at the derby. It’s explicit in the text that he was only low on juice because he drove all night and entered the race illicitly. Presumably next time he’ll start with a full battery.
I didn’t see the the advanced vocabulary of the smart brother, Pinball, as an opportunity for mockery. The smart brother is placed in opposition not only to the dumb brother, but also to the brave brother and the fast brother. We’re not supposed to belittle Flash for being fast! Being smart is, again explicitly, Pinball’s virtue (and he incidentally gets the best line in the book: “I am currently on fire”).
But I’ll admit I skipped over some of Pinball’s verbiage when I read the book to my 2yo, as I did 100,000X before we returned it to the library. Maybe I’d be more bitter about the book if I’d actually bought it.
The bar for truck books is pretty low, and I’ve read so many that are mostly just sound effects (“Vroom! Crunch! Here comes the excavator!”) that I appreciated Cena crafting a story that involves sentences and a plot. The story *is* incoherent, but in part this incoherence is endemic to the “little machine” genre. There’s always a little snowplow or bulldozer, and everyone makes fun blah blah. But of course part of the point of being a small child is that you will, in fact, grow, and in growing become more competent. Machines cannot grow, and I don’t really know how to reconcile this fact with the narratives I keep reading to my kid. What does it mean when we see children, i.e. tiny cars, in the Pixar Cars franchise? Will they shuck off their metal carapace like an arthropod shedding its exoskeleton? I can never tell how much of a curmudgeon I’m being when I complain about these things. I mean, trucks don’t have eyes, either. They can’t even talk!
I think the “message” of this book, insofar as one exists, is expressed in the cliché “You miss every shot you don’t take,” or, as Ashida Kim once wrote, “What will happen in one’s own life is already written, but one must choose to be there. This is the Way of the Ninja.” There was virtue in Elbow Grease’s effort, even if he did not win, and even if he had not been struck by lightning. It doesn’t matter than EG finished the race any more than it matters that he came in last.
Note how when the brothers try to do the things they’re not good at, as the end of the book insists is the best way to live one’s life, that they are in fact really bad at them. As already noted, Pinball literally sets himself on fire. (Having Crash, the daredevil brother, be bad as reading safety regulations is also a solid gag.) I guess the idea that we should try things we’re bad at is not the worst message I’ve gotten from a children’s book.
But I don’t know if the book is very efficient at conveying this message.