Jack, from the backseat, said to his dad,

This car is OK. This car is not bad.

But it’s just a car. Nothing great. Nothing grand.

It’s nothing at all like the car I have planned.

From that proclamation, Jack takes his dad on a fantastical tour of his dream car, which can fly, float, and travel under water. Jack’s car includes such comforts as a couch, a pool, a snack bar, and a robot to drive when he feels like taking a nap. He also eliminates problems that normal cars have. For example, his car is made of Plexiglas and “a polymer gel” to avoid damage and injury – and that’s not all his car is capable of!

Winner of the 2008 Monarch Award and the 2004 E. B. White Read Aloud Award, If I Built a Car, by Chris Van Dusen, uses Dr. Seuss-like rhymes and colorful 1950s-style illustrations to bring to life the imagination of an inventive young boy.