This Old Van

by Kim Norman, Carolyn Digby Conahan (Illustrator)

Overview

This old van,  
she passed one,
shining in the rising sun.
 
With a click clack rattle rack,
ready for some fun,
This old van says,
“Goodbye, one!”
 
 
Take a rollicking ride in This Old Van, a joyful take on the classic children's counting song. As the colorfully painted vintage vehicle, driven by a really cool pair of grandparents, rolls down the highway, it passes one train, two bulldozers, three tractors, and four semis, right up to ten muddy motorbikes. And along the way, luggage flies off, horns honk, and the hurrying van zigs and zags—till it arrives at its destination JUST IN TIME! You won't be able to resist singing every fun verse out loud.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454910633
Publisher:	Sterling Children's Books
Publication date:	08/04/2015
Pages:	30
Sales rank:	634,263
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD660L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Kim Norman is the author of several books for young readers, including Ten on the Sled; If It’s Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws!; Puddle Pug; and Crocodaddy (all Sterling). As children in the family van, Kim and her siblings bounced along many a road less graveled. Kim and her husband live in Smithfield, VA. Visit Kim online at kimnormanbooks.com.
 
Carolyn Conahan is the author and illustrator of several picture books, including The Twelve Days of Christmas in Oregon (Sterling), and The Big Wish (Chronicle), which was awarded the 2011 Oregon Spirit Book Award for Picture Books by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English. She is also the staff artist of Cricket magazine. Carolyn comes from a family of adventurous teachers, and she spent her childhood on a series of bumpy road trips, much like the one in This Old Van. She lives in Portland, OR, and still loves to travel. Visit Carolyn online at carolyndigbyconahan.com.

Editorial Reviews

“Conahan’s soft pastel palette and comically inventive, Peter Max–inspired illustrations—from the grinning, wide-eyed bulldozers to the hard-hat–wearing mountain goats—are reminiscent of the Saturday-morning-cartoons of the 1960s. . . . This intergenerational romp filled with sight gags and puns will keep readers humming as they pore over each detail-packed page.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

07/01/2015
PreS-Gr 1—Norman has taken a favorite childhood song, "This Old Man, He Plays One" and turned it into a great vehicle counting book that celebrates the flower power van of the 1960s. Gramps and Granny are invited to grandson Jake's big event. They are urged not to be late. The grandparents jump into their yellow van with flowers painted all over it and speed off down the road. We know they are in a hurry because the song tells us that they pass every vehicle they encounter on or off the road. One train, two construction vehicles, three tractors, four semis, five vintage cars, six dump trucks, seven pickup trucks with horse trailers, eight new cars on a car hauler, nine school buses, and ten dirt bikes. They arrive just in time to see Jake win the Downhill Derby in his little replica of the grandparents van. Of course, all the other competing vehicles are replicas of the cars, trucks, etc. that Gramps and Granny passed on their way. This is a delightful choice for preschoolers who adore cars and trucks of any kind. There are lots of details in the colorful illustrations for the child to search. Every vehicle has a face and the headlights are the eyes. VERDICT A fun addition to picture book collections.—Elaine Lesh Morgan, formerly at Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

School Library Journal

2015-05-18
A flower-power VW bus races cross-country along crowded dirt lanes and city freeways to the tune of "This Old Man." A chaotic counting adventure ensues as the van and its precariously attached luggage rack motors along past construction vehicles, trains, tractors, and anything else on wheels: "This old van, she passed ONE, / shining in the rising sun. / With a click clack rattle rack, / ready for some fun, / this old van says, / ‘GOOD-BYE, ONE!' " Conahan's soft pastel palette and comically inventive, Peter Max-inspired illustrations—from the grinning, wide-eyed bulldozers to the hard-hat-wearing mountain goats—are reminiscent of the Saturday-morning-cartoons of the 1960s. The peace-sign-waving, green-shaded-, tie-dye-, and bell-bottom-sporting grandparents who own the titular van leave their home on Hippie Way in Groovytown to keep a date with their grandson Jake for his derby meet. Challenged by flat tires and flying dirt clods, the happy-go-lucky, aging flower children don't let anything keep them down for long. With the pedal to the metal, Gramps at last cajoles (with Granny and the dog pushing from behind) the aging van over one last hill to the finish line. This intergenerational romp filled with sight gags and puns will keep readers humming as they pore over each detail-packed page. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews