I'm Fast!

by Kate McMullan, Jim McMullan (Illustrator)

Overview

From Kate and Jim McMullan, the popular creators of I Stink! and I’m Dirty!—now a streaming animated series—comes an irresistible read-aloud about trains, a perennial kid favorite.

WHEELS on the RAILS, ALL night long,
Racin’ and a-rumblin’ the FREIGHT TRAIN song—
Chooka chooka chooka chooka

Meet one hard workin’ freight train. He’s got to get to Chicago on time and nothing is going to stop him. Mountains? Not a chance! Cows? Out of his way, ladies! He’s going to get there—and fast!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061920851
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/03/2012
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kate McMullan is the author of the easy-to-read books featuring Fluffy, the Classroom Guinea Pig, the middle grade series Dragon Slayers’ Academy, and Myth-o-Mania, the Greek myths as told by Hades. She is also the author of the Geisel Honor Book Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day.

Kate and Jim McMullan have collaborated on many popular picture books, including I'm Brave!; I'm Fast!; I'm Big!; I'm Bad!; I'm Dirty!; and I Stink!, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book. The McMullans live in Sag Harbor, New York.

Jim McMullan is an internationally acclaimed illustrator and poster designer whose work can be seen in The Theater Posters of James McMullan. His most recent book is the illustrated memoir Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood.

Kate and Jim McMullan have collaborated on many popular picture books, including I'm Brave!; I'm Fast!; I'm Big!; I'm Bad!; I'm Dirty!; and I Stink!, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book. The McMullans live in Sag Harbor, New York.

Editorial Reviews

The husband-and-wife team behind I Stink! and I’m Big! return to their vehicular roots as Red, a sports car, challenges a blue train to a race to Chicago. Loaded up with gravel, coils of steel, ice cream bars, and pizza fixings, the train speeds along, exuding cockiness. Reading like a blues refrain, the text chugs along with the gestural friends: “Wheels on the rails, all night long,/ Racin’ and a-rumblin’ the freight train song—/ Chooka chooka chooka chooka.” It’s a rip-roaring ride for the automotive obsessed. Ages 4–8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

The staccato text is as peppy as always and embellished with onomatopoeia like the “chooka chooka chooka” rhythm the train makes once up and running. Jim McMullan makes terrific use of the broad horizontal spreads to show the beauty and challenge of the journey.

The Horn Book

The usually dynamic McMullan duo (I Stink!, 2002) stalls with their sixth title, which stars an uber-confident train that accepts a challenge to race an equally self-assured sports car. Before the trek from Sacramento to Chicago can begin, the freight is loaded with a boisterous call-and-response rhythm: "LUMBER? FLATCAR! YARD CREW? Hop to! / BRICKS? GONDOLA! STEEL? COIL CAR! GAS? TANK CAR! // GRAVEL BIN? Open the HATCH! HOPPER? Catch!" Then they are off: the car vrooming and the train hurtling with a "Chooka chooka chooka chooka." The freight train impresses as it tunnels through rock, plows through snow and zooms past traffic, all the while pulling cars full of everything from frozen treats to pizza ingredients. The illustrations have a pleasingly retro touch. The sleek, red car contrasts nicely with the hulking, bright-blue mass of the freight engine as they traverse full-bleed spreads drenched in saturated colors of the landscape. Words flash in various bright hues accenting the many sound effects that comprise most of the frenetic text. This textual energy works well from a compositional standpoint, but it does pose difficulties for reading aloud. This, combined with a certain sense of overfamiliarity, keeps the book from rising to the top. Preschoolers will most likely warm to the good-natured competition between car and train, and parents and teachers will appreciate the friendly conclusion. But for those looking for a standout title in the multitude of things-that-go stories, there is little here that would warrant a repeat journey. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews

The staccato text is as peppy as always and embellished with onomatopoeia like the “chooka chooka chooka” rhythm the train makes once up and running. Jim McMullan makes terrific use of the broad horizontal spreads to show the beauty and challenge of the journey.” — The Horn Book

“Certain to pique the interest and imagination of young children as to the everyday workings of freight trains—and it takes them on a highly entertaining ride, too.” — School Library Journal

“It’s a rip-roaring ride.” — Publishers Weekly

Praise for I’M BIG!: ““It’s unlikely the dino or readers will soon forget such a big adventure.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Praise for I’M BIG!: “Perfect as a read-aloud or a read-alone, this story about a lost youngster finding his courage and his mojo will secure a welcome place in the vast herd of picture books available.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

Praise for I’M BIG!: “Looking big is a strategy used often in the wild, and readers will be happy to see it work for this essentially gentle giant, from whom the fanged, clawed, spiked, yet puny bullies turn tail.” — The Horn Book

From the Publisher