The Two Cars

Did you think that the d'Aulaires only wrote books about Greek myths (or Norse myths and animals)? I did. That is until I saw The Two Cars. As it turns out, the d'Aulaires were quite prolific authors, but it wasn't until one of my frequent searches for new car books for Finn that I realized just how many books they authored.

The Two Cars, written in 1955, imitates many books of it's time by having a two-fold page of color followed by a spread of black and white pages. A cost saving measure of it's time, I love seeing the unique character brought by the contrasting images. This book in particular has adorable illustrations, just as cute in black and white as color. The cars have such personality in their gentle illustration.

One car is an old trusty engine. The other and new speedy model. They race around the town and back to the garage and find a few bumps along the road.

A vehicular version of the tortoise and the hare, no doubt, but I found it odd that this story ends by the older, law-abiding, steady car being pulled over by the police car in the end to be commended for his "safe and beautiful driving." Not quite the ending I was expecting, but I guess it's better to be recognized for a contribution to society than win a race against a loose-cannon young, hip car. I assume that's the moral they're going for anyway.

Either way it's a pretty cute book and one of Finn's go-to bedtime stories.