Digby O'Day in the Fast Lane

Reviewed by: Carla McAllister - New Gloucester Public Library, New Gloucester, Maine, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 7, 2014

Review

This first in a trilogy by a mother/daughter author/illustrator team is fabulous. The size is perfect for the targeted audience of 5 - 8 year olds. The text is challenging but not overwhelming for that age bracket. Digby and Percy are dogs and best friends! They love to travel around in Digby's old car and, in this first offering, decide to enter a local all-day car race from Didsworth to Dodsworth. Lou Ella is the next door neighbor who buys a new car every year and is, basically, Digby and Percy's arch enemy. Of course, she also enters the race and even purchases a special new racing hat for the occasion. The illustrations are shades of red, black, gray and white. The pictures are busy, expressive, and amusing. There are lots of other characters introduced and the entrants in the race are varied and interesting, to say the least. At the end of the book are suggestions for games to be played while riding in a car and a quiz about the book to see how much the reader remembers, along with photos from Digby's personal album and drawing challenges. I would highly recommend this choice for beginner reader shelves and believe that readers will look forward to the next two in the trilogy.

Overall Book Score: excellent