On a hot summer day, Junie and Jakie
suggested a trip to the lake. Poppa worries about whether or
not their old car will make it ("It doesn't go fast and it
doesn't go far"), but the family decides to give it a try.
They haven't gone far when "boomsssssssss. The tire went
flat." Junie knows what to do-she puts her beach ball in the
place of the wheel, sticking it on tight with chocolate
marshmallow fudge delight. Then, "whumpety whomp!"-the floor
falls off. This time, Jakie knows just what to do. A series
of other near-disasters follows, each finding a silly remedy
with an item that had been packed for the outing, and they
make it to the lake. Cumulative stories are most successful
when they have a little twist or surprise at the end, and
there isn't one here, but the bouncy, creative language more
than makes up for that lack. The internal rhymes,
alliteration, and creative car sounds make a perfect
read-aloud. The watercolor illustrations are full of action
as the rattletrap car bounces off the road and seems to rush
off the page. The words for the car sounds bounce, too, in
their larger, uneven fonts. The illustrations contribute
humorous detail capturing the family's alternating despair,
inventiveness, and glee at moving again.