Cadillac (Hardcover)

~ Charles Temple (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Temple (On the River Bank; Shanty Boat) again charms readers with his rollicking and vivid rhyming language, but he makes some missteps in treating the subject matter at the heart of this picture book. Granny takes her young granddaughter for a spin in her gigantic, pink-finned Cadillac "With the Naugahyde seats/ And the gold-flecked metal... Boom, shacka-lacka-lacka/Boom, shacka-lack." The outing may be meant to be silly, but Temple fails to elevate the text to a state of goofiness removed from the difficult issues it suggests. This granny clearly has no business on the road; she knocks her own mailbox down from the git-go, then Lockhart's creamy, fuzzy pastels depict Granny putting on lipstick while driving, running red lights and crashing into a parking meter. There are no seatbelts to be seen and the granddaughter prays in the backseat throughout. At story's end, this highway hellion avoids a ticket by kissing a traffic cop, and then takes to the open road again. Worse, the granddaughter is shown at the parked car's wheel emulating her Granny. This type of humor is better left unshared. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2?A dippy, color-blind granny takes her granddaughter for a wild ride to town to buy a pair of polka-dotted undershorts for grandpa. En route she presses the pedal to the metal, cuts heedlessly in and out of traffic, runs red lights, parks on the sidewalk, and merrily throws a traffic ticket out the car window. Miraculously, they return home unscathed. The text often strains to rhyme and is barely funny, but the whizzing, swooping, brilliantly colored double-page illustrations bring the whole silly situation into pulsating life, as the pink, tail-finned Cadillac rips along, scattering birds, trucks, and cars in its wake. Granny is a plump, white-haired little woman in shorts who applies lipstick while steering and seems totally unaware of the havoc she wreaks. Reckless driving is simply not a joke, even though the pictures are clever, funny, and exciting.?Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (October 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399226540
• ISBN-13: 978-0399226540
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #958,103 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for a Read-Aloud, October 6, 2006

By	HickoryKat (Michigan) - See all my reviews

You will love this book.... it has great rhyme and rhythm to it, very similar to Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom. Grandma going to town in her big PINK Cadillac and she goes wherever she wants and everybody gets out of the way.
Boom,Shacka-Lacka-Lacka,Boom,Shacka-lack. It is FUN to read out loud and the kids just love it! I think you will love it too!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars precious child's picture book, March 14, 2002

By	Beth Gerhardt (Seguin, TX) - See all my reviews

The story is very well written and the illustrations are WONDERFUL! My 2-year-old loves this book. As you read the book, you can almost imagine being in the car with the old lady. It brings back memories of driving with my own grandmother who was a crazy driver.