Road Trip [Hardcover]

Roger Eschbacher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2006 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

It’s time to visit Grandma for a family reunion. So get up early and grab maps and car games, because Grandma’s house is clear across the country. Along the way are plenty of adventures, from crazy roadside attractions, to eating at a favorite truck stop, to sleeping overnight at a motel.

And don’t forget to buy some silly postcards to send to friends at home. With bouncy vignettes and merry illustrations, Road Trip captures all the usual—and unusual—details that make car trips so much fun.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–A family piles into the car in the early morning for a two-day drive to Grandma's house. The parents and children engage in the usual road-trip activities–playing games, eating at a truck stop, singing, getting on each other's nerves, being bored, taking in the tourist sites, and staying in a motel–until they finally arrive for a festive reunion. Each activity is told in somewhat painful verse (often stretched to fit the situation) and illustrated with bouncy cartoon watercolor-and-ink art. The overlong and often forced text may not keep children's attention and may seem just as boring as a youngster's perception of a never-ending journey. Virginia Walters's Are We There Yet, Daddy? (Viking, 1999) and Dandi Daley Mackall's Are We There Yet? (Dutton, 2003) cover the same ground more enjoyably.–Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. Although classified as fiction, this story, about the road trip of a family with four kids, is told in short, rhyming poems. Beginning with loading the car, the poems touch on universal family road-trip experiences: endless miles on the highway ("Cornfields, cornfields, snoring cornfields--Why don't they plant a tree?"); car games; cheesy tourist attractions; motels and restaurants. Finally, the family reaches its destination--a family reunion--before piling back into the minivan and heading home. The verse is sometimes bland and awkward: "My friends come through the door. / About my trip, I start to yap, / Can't wait to tell them more!" It's Wickstrom's illustrations that will attract kids' attention. Colorful cartoon drawings extend the familiar scenarios with extra touches, such as the reunion's "family tree" (a small tree decorated with family pictures), while the characters' wide-eyed faces telegraph frustrations and excitement that kids will recognize. Though not an essential purchase, families preparing to hit the road may enjoy sharing this book aloud. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dial (June 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803729278
• ISBN-13: 978-0803729278
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,400,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roger Eschbacher is a professional television animation writer who's worked for Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. He's also written two children's picture books, "Road Trip", and "Nonsense! He Yelled," both for Dial Books.

He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and now lives in California with his family and a crazy dog named Lizzy.

To learn more about Roger and his books, please visit www.sillyroger.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've been There!, February 4, 2007

By 

Patricia A. Heim "mom3X" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Road Trip (Hardcover)

What a cute book. It brought me back to my childhood where my siblings (3) and I piled in our Country Squire station wagon with a dog and a Grandma (not to mention 2 parents) and drove cross country. A must read for all kids who can't imagine driving to the grocery store without a DVD playing, let alone to Canada! Very funny and wonderful drawings.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Road Well Traveled, June 11, 2006

By 

Senor Sock (Sherman Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Road Trip (Hardcover)

Like any good road trip, its the journey, not the destination and in "Road Trip" Roger Eschbacher and illustrator Thor Wickstrom give the reader a heck of a fun ride.

Written for young readers (yet more intelligent than Tom Green's movie of the same name), the beautifully illustrated "Road Trip" takes the reader through the many wonders and staples of a two day family car trip in a warm, humorous vein. Told in playful and amusing rhyme, the story is one most parents can identify with. Eschbacher takes us through the family sing-a-longs, games like license plate bingo and "I Spy with My Little Eye", jackalopes, postcards, tourist traps (be sure to check out "Paul Bunyun's Hive"!) and the inevitable squabbling with siblings which leads dad to threaten to "turn this car around right now".

Kids are sure to laugh at moments everyone can relate to like: "Gotta go, go, go. Can we stop, stop, stop? Dad says no, no, no. Will I pop, pop, pop?"

Thor Wickstrom's illustrations are rich and clever, providing a lot to look at as one reads the book again and again (and the kids will want to read this one again--and unlike some kids books, that's something YOU won't mind doing either!). The great detail he puts into each page adds some nice jokes that go along well with Eschbacher's amusing story.

It's a good read for kids who are either on, about to go on or just finished with their own first family road trip, while providing adults with a nostalgic look back to the days when they occupied the back seat and wondered "are we there yet?" It is sure to stir some memories.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for preparing for road trips!, January 22, 2012

By 

Delaine DeChellis - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Road Trip (Hardcover)

Beautiful illustrations! Funny, but true! Read this to a third grade class. They were

interested the entire time. Prepares children for long car rides.