CARS

Pull tabs and other special effects
rev up this look at the lives of cars, from factory to junkyard.

The book opens with a sparse “museum”
of early autos and closes with a visit to a Formula 1 racetrack. In between,
single-topic spreads take generic automobiles from design lab to dealer, supply
glimpses of a dashboard and beneath the hood, then go on to show what happens
at a repair shop, a service station, and a car wash. Moving elements, one or
two per page, are fairly sturdy and relatively varied—ranging from large flaps
to geared wheels, tabs, and slots that work a hydraulic lift or allow a wreck
to be hauled aboard a tow truck. In Hardenberg’s translation from the French, Krasinski’s
simply phrased labels and commentary incorporate some distinctive vocabulary: “prototype,”
“exhaust pipe,” “pre-owned.” Though hybrid, electric, and driverless cars
receive nods, the focus throughout is mainly on traditional gas guzzlers. Latyk
darkens the skin of some of the stylized human figures in his simple
illustrations, but like the cars on display, most are small on the page and
generic of feature.

Not a high-octane outing, but it
could fill in some background for curious would-be motorists just out of their
car seats. (Informational novelty. 4-6)