From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3–This title lives up to the high standard of its predecessor,
Axle Annie (Dial, 1999). Here, the good-natured and supremely competent school bus driver confronts the most dastardly and dangerous motorist in Burskyville. Rush Hotfoot is determined to get where he's going fast, faster, fastest--and he zips by Annie's bus while brushing his teeth, plucking his nose hairs, and changing out of his pajamas. As so often happens in real life, it takes a scary accident to slow him down. Still, the book's bouncy language and illustrations create a cushion around the situation, and readers are given a happy ending along with a welcome message about safe driving. Arnold's trademark pop-eyed characters and magnetic colors mask the sophistication of his enormously appealing artwork. The exuberant cartoons conspire with the outrageous prose to present a lesson in road safety that's both goofy and memorable. This offering has all the requisite qualities of a big hit.
–Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K-Gr. 3. Axle Annie was the best school bus driver in Burskyville. She loved the kids and the kids loved her. The only problem was the Speed Grump, a maniac driver named Rush Hotfoot. Every day the kids watched for him. "Here comes Rush!" He's shaving; he's plucking his nose hairs; he's changing from his PJs into his work clothes; he's ignoring the bus stop-sign arm! When Rush's dangerous driving results in a near plunge over a bridge, Axle Annie saves his hide, and the kids sing their favorite songs to take his mind off his car, which is dangling over Great Gulping Gulch. Thereafter, repentant Rush rides a tricycle to work. Executed in colored pencils and watercolor washes, the cartoon artwork is as over the edge as Rush's car, and the story has plenty of RPMs (riotous, punny moments) to keep kids laughing out loud. Let's hope Axle Annie, in her red-framed glasses and denim cap worn backwards, will steer her bus back down the road for another adventure.
Julie CumminsCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
