ZOOM ALONG

Kids get a turn in the driver’s seat.

Die-cut holes throughout and shiny mirrors on the insides of the covers put toddlers’ faces behind the wheels of their favorite things that go. Children can picture themselves tooling down the road in a sports car, sitting in the engine of a train, or driving a firetruck, bicycle, plane, or rocket. Each page features a different vehicle or pursuit; one sentence names the associated occupation or role and another describes the conveyance or activity: “I am a firefighter. I drive a truck. // I am a cyclist. I pedal a bike. // … // I am an explorer. I climb a mountain.” The sounds of the vehicles or vocalizations in each two-page spread rhyme; the “Brrring! Brrring!” of a bicycle’s bell is paired with the “Ding! Ding!” of a trolley, for example. Some terminology is more obvious than others: A farmer rides a tractor, a captain sails a boat, and a musher guides a dogsled, for example. The terms for the operator of a hot air balloon or a scooter seem more arbitrary: “adventurer” and “racer,” respectively. Two sour notes: The engineer of a train does not “conduct” a train, nor is the driver of a trolley its “conductor.” The artwork, though unspectacular, is colorful, uncluttered, and easily read. Young readers will, no doubt, find their disproportionately large reflections amusing.

Zooms along to adequate but not quite also-ran status.