Pistes d'exploration

With a partner, read the introduction and browse through the table of contents. Choose some favourite pages to read first.

Practise a dramatic reading of one of the poems with a classmate or group. Present your poetic interpretation to the class.

Make a print, radio or television advertisement for one of the imaginary vehicles. Remember to highlight the important features.

Invent and name your own whimsical vehicle. Draw the picture and write a short poem to accompany it in the same style as the book.

With a partner, choose a page and sort the words into two categories: words to describes cars and words to describe personality. Start an anchor chart with vocabulary and expressions from the text and from your own prior knowledge. Research missing words you may not know.

With a classmate or small group, practise a dramatic reading of one of the poems. Present it to the class.

Explore the book for cultural icons of the English language. Try to find where the influence comes from (a book, a brand name, an expression, a nursery rhyme, etc.).

With a partner, design your own whimsical vehicle. Draw a picture and write a description in the same style as the book.

Let's Go!: The Story of Getting From There to Here, The Tweedles Go Electric, How Things Work Encyclopedia

Mots-clés

Humour , Poetry , cars , creativity , imagination , poetry (collections) , transportation , wordplay

Commentaire descriptif

This quirky anthology invites readers to “turn the page and take a spin” through a surreal world of “wacky cars, fender to fin. Twenty-one lively poems describe convoluted, futuristic vehicles such as the disposable Paper Car that can be shredded when it breaks down, the Sloppy-Floppy-Nonstop-Jalopy (“so unique – there is no copy”) and Bathtub Car (“With hot-water heatingAnd porcelain seating.”) Other models include: the High-Heel Car, 23rd-Century Motors, the Balloon Car, the Caterpillar Cab, the Egg Car, the Hot Dog Car, the Grass Taxi, the Supersonic Ionic Car and the Rubber-Band Car. Lively, accessible text incorporates humour, rhyme, alliteration and clever wordplay (e.g. The Eel-ectric car) to make this a fun and entertaining read-aloud. Digitally coloured pencil and watercolour illustrations are richly detailed and offer much to notice and identify. Playful font (e.g. backwards letters for the backwards car; a battery-powered a u t o m o b EEEEEEEEEL) and endpapers stamped with a tire tread design complete the offering. With their instant kid-appeal, these silly poems and companion drawings could easily entice even the most reluctant readers into the wonderful world of books.