by Naomi Danis
illustrated by Daniel Rieley
 
Two children look out of their flat window to the busy road outside. With each passing car they give a little wave. Leaving their home with their mum, we see that they have face masks on- as do all the other pedestrians. The children continue to wave at the grown-up cars, the baby cars, the vroom-vroom-vroom and the zooming cars. So many cars! All driven by unsmiling drivers, each vehicle pumping out billowy clouds of smoke, culminating in a busy crossroads where a car crash has brought out several emergency vehicles. 
 
With the second half of the book, it’s all change! We see the family dismount a bus. The street is now full of bicycles. There are no masks to be seen and faces look relaxed- smiling, even. And are those trees in bloom? …
 
A book which imagines and puts into practise a different, cleaner, safer way for an urban community to live, right through to the contrasting end pages. A clear cut message delivered in a most accessible way. Gives so much room for adults to pose questions to children and to engage them in predictive storytelling.
 
‘Lovely! Very interesting idea. Lots to talk about and good starting point for discussion’ (Carey, Childminder, Letterbox Library reviewer). ‘Original approach to environmental issue. Lots to discuss in the illustrations with simple text. Makes this perfect for a younger age range’ (Kerry, Letterbox Library staff). [Range of skin tones and faiths. Very thoughtful disability images include: main girl wearing ear defenders; wheelchair user leaving a bus via accessibility ramp; wheelchair user with a power hand bike; visually impaired/blind person with an assistance dog].  Age 3-7, Paperback 28pp
 
Themes: Disabilities