Review by Booklist Review
Oluwalase knows about African cities with skyscrapers and about smaller towns with electricity, running water, and TV, but in his poor village in the bush, they only talk about such things. Living near the main road, he has learned from Grandfather how to spot fancy cars speeding toward the cities, and he is thrilled when a Toyota Corolla breaks down and is abandoned nearby. Then, when the village wagon falls apart, he figures out how to use the Toyota to get the villagers' goods to market, where they trade their palm oil, yams, and rice for necessities such as salt, sugar, kerosene, pens, and shoes. With a wry blend of realism, farce, and heartbreak, Nigerian-born Atinuke's small chapter book, illustrated with spare line drawings, tells a contemporary story of a kid who saves the day. Readers will be hooked to the end as tension rises and there is no way to get Grandmother medical care--until, once again, Oluwalase shows that he is number one.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
Oluwalase Babatunde Benson, called No. 1, is the best car spotter in his African village. His unnamed country has cities and towns with skyscrapers, hotels, offices, tap water, electricity, and televisions, but in his village they "only talk about such things." In their limited spare time, No. 1 and his grandfather sit by the side of the road, calling out the makes and models of cars. "It is what we men do...What Grandfather does not know about spotting cars is not to know." In the first story of four, when the village's only market cart breaks, it's No. 1's ingenuity, the seeds of which have been planted by his grandfather, that saves the village (aptly, the solution involves a disabled car). One of Atinuke's gifts is her ability to tell her stories with humor while introducing serious topics to younger readers. Here, we meet a boy who learns to face the challenges of life in a village where the men have left to seek work in the city. Whether it's helping to man the market stall, sho ping for lipstick for Auntie Fine-Fine, working for food, or worrying about his sick grandmother's lack of money for a doctor, we see a boy who is willing to pitch in and to think about solutions. Stylized black-and-white illustrations have the energy to match No. 1. Frequent perspective changes, exaggerated facial features, and light pen line add movement, giving readers the idea that No. 1 and his friends are always moving, always ready for the next assignment. A welcome addition to the very small selection of books -- particularly early chapter books -- about modern Africa. robin l. smith (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Oluwalase Babatunde Benson, otherwise known as No. 1, is not only the best car-spotter in his African village, his electric ideas improve village life.Nigerian-born Atinuke (Anna Hibiscus, 2010, etc.) introduces an energetic new character and an unusual setting in her latest title. While Anna's suburban life resembles that of American children in many ways, No. 1 lives in a tiny village with "few compounds and many goats and several cows." The men, and even many of the women, have gone off to the city to make money, leaving single-parent families and elderly grandparents. No. 1 helps his family in the fields, runs errands and goes to market, but his favorite activity is car-spottingidentifying the cars that pass on the road by sound and sight, as his grandfather did before him. As in Anna and her sequels, these four interconnected short stories revel in the language and rhythms of oral storytelling. In one story, No. 1 convinces a cousin to chop up a dead Toyota, turning it into a Cow-rolla. In another, his father makes an unintended use of wheelbarrows given to the village by the NGO man. The gentle humor is reflected in Cadwell's gray-scale cartoon drawings on every page.First published in England in 2010, this promises another engaging chapter-book series, a treat for lively middle-grade boys. (Fiction. 7-11) ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
