Ready, Set, Go! - Book Review

Start your engines. Wizz! Roar! Zoom!

This children's book by Beck Wheeler explores our National Transportation history for kiwi kids.

With the help of my 7 and 5 year old below we have shared the first impressions of this awesome kiwi children's book.

First impressions from Scarlett (7) and River (5) before reading the book.

What do you think?

River: “Woooah look! I like that there are drawings on top of pictures!”

Scarlett: “Look! We have been on this thing! (the tram).”

First impressions from Scarlett (7) and River (5) after reading the book.

What is your favourite kind of vehicle in this book?

River: “I like planes cause with planes we can look up from above”

Scarlett: “I like that there is a tram and we went on the tram”

Who would like this book?

River: “Maybe all kids, and kids who like cars and also Zara, Zara would like this!”

Scarlett: “I think everyone who likes trams DEFINITELY.”

Overall The kids had a great response to the book, they loved the kiwiana feel to the book! Sometimes they payed more attention to and asked questions about the fish and chips and pohutukawa tree, than the information about the vehicles at times however.

They were both very excited and interested in the tram that we had ridden on when we last visited MOTAT 4 months ago, which brought back a lot of memories of MOTAT.

This book creates a ‘kid like feeling’ to real life photographs of trams, trains and planes.

The use of cartoon images within the pictures and the pops of colour behind vehicles and real life pictures, are placed cleverly next to rhyming paragraphs about the vehicles on each page.

I feel that it is a great book to read soon after a visit to MOTAT as a way to keep the conversation and experience of MOTAT alive, as it captures the energy of a day exploring MOTAT’s machines.

This book is the first in a series of educational books for kiwi kids by Beck Wheeler and Little Love.

Proceeds from this book help to keep the MOTAT magic alive! MOTAT is a great place to visit with kids to experience and see our national transport history.

I’m super excited to see what other books are in store for this series!

You can purchase 'Ready, Set, Go!' from bookstores nationwide, from the MOTAT gift shop and online from The Dorothy Butler Children' Bookshop.

Its 4 out of 5 Pumpkins from me.