Moody moody cars

Gr 1--3--Through large text in bold colors paired with photographs of classic cars, feelings are ascribed to the headlights, bumpers, and grills. On the left, each feeling (surprised, friendly, angry, sad, happy, jealous, worried, excited, disgusted, and sleepy) is described from a car's perspective, whether driving to the circus (surprised), having a full tank of gas (happy), or being behind a garbage truck (disgusted), with the featured word and some synonyms. On the right, there is a staged shot of a classic car on a white backdrop. The book lends itself well to reading aloud; however, it is difficult to see the car's faces in the photographs without flipping to the page at the end of the book that traces the car's features to show readers what they are supposed to see. As a publication from the American Psychological Association, the explanation for the methodology behind the book and the developmental stages for children is an added bonus. A number of books, such as Anna Llenas's The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings, Jo Witek's In My Heart: A Book of Feelings, and Jamie Lee Curtis's Today: I Feel Silly: And Other Moods that Make My Day, also list emotions and do a better job of showing through images what facial expressions look like. VERDICT Though other titles may handle this better topically, this is a good addition to libraries and classrooms as a way to normalize talking and recognizing feelings and broaching emotional intelligence with the added bonus of a subject many children obsess over.--Vi Ha

The secret emotions of automobiles are revealed in a rhyming picture book about their many moods. While it may be no revelation to any young reader who's seen Disney's Cars movies, motor vehicles have feelings too. They can be sad, joyous, angry, or even envious. In this book that uses different colors to symbolize sundry emotions, various automobiles talk to the reader in singsong-y verses expressing how they're feeling. A photo of a different vintage car is shown on each recto page. A 1956 A.C. Cobra, for instance, is sad, "with tears on its cheek," after losing its favorite parking spot (the car's chrome front bumpers look like tears); a 1938 Delage Coupe is happy since its gas tank is full; and so on. An answer "key" (a pun that the author fully intends) at the end of the book reveals the car models and manufacture years, with superimposed yellow lines showing how each car's front trimmings resemble a different facial expression. The concept is clever, and the cars look great, though it's unlikely that young readers will be familiar with the stylings of mid-20th-century Bugattis and Jaguars unless they're also already subscribers to Hemmings Motor News. The backmatter stresses the importance of facial emotion recognition in child development and explains how pareidolia (our tendency to see faces in everyday objects) can foster children's emotional literacy. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A fun concept well executed, this picture book feels like a joyride. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.