Three young friends race toy cars together, counting the laps around the racetrack. Slick, overly patterned illustrations depict imagination in full swing: the children are in their cars racing one another. The exclamation-point-heavy text features awkward rhythm and rhyme: "Lap Five! / Round-the-loop, / splash through mud. / Pop! Thud--thud. / Limping to the pit. / Va-va-vroom!"

PreS "Let's race!" Three toddlers place their toy cars on a rug filled with blocks and traditional games and they're off on an imagined 10 laps of checkered-flag excitement. One by one, each vehicle moves to the front and swerves around the corners, passing other cars in white-knuckled near-misses, "catching air" with flips and tipping cars. Flat-tire stops at the pit, speedy fixes, "swooshing" flags, confetti, and a cheering crowd all make an appearance, while squealing tires and the "Va-Va-Vroom!" of each page-turn lap transforms to the "Ba-ba-boom" of the winner's celebration fireworks. Digitally created with sweetly cartooned cheer, each young driver, strapped in by a seatbelt and garbed in an animal-inspired helmet, whirls in a brightly striped car through clearly numbered laps viewed through the windshield, along the curves, or from high in the spectator stands. A preschool natural for energetic little ones with cars at the ready, this brief book visually races through counting and action words. Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX