Car Magic
Bobby’s Got a Brand New Car
Authors: Zidrou
Illustrator: Sebastien Chebret
Author Zidrou and illustrator Sebastien Chebret come together to create a fantastical and yet not-so-fantastical look into the mind of a car-loving child with a big imagination, in Bobby’s Got a Brand New Car. The book is a sweet escape to childhood, where a young boy dreams of being the one to drive his parents around in, you guessed it, his brand new car. The story is simple and yet, it will resonate with both car lovers and non-car lovers, a nostalgic glimpse into an intangible piece of all our memories.
Much of this sense of ease and imagination can be credited to Chebret’s 1960s illustrative styling, in a delightful, childlike pallet across swaths of thick, geometric pictures. The European aesthetic is well-deserved, a combination of Zidrou’s Belgian and Chebret’s French origins.
In either case, the images are sure to delight young car enthusiasts and potentially even create some. The sense of freedom and excitement that this book inspires in even the adults reading to their children– or themselves, as the case may be– is contagious, and it brings to mind memories of young childlike dreams, inspired by magic cards that pay for everything, kind salesmen who help you find the right convertible, and the other teachers, jealous when you pick your mom up from school. In many ways, these childlike dreamings aren’t so childlike at all, but the fantasy of most car enthusiasts, dreaming about their next Brand New Car.
For the little car lovers in your life, or the kids you’re training to be little car lovers, Bobby’s Got a Brand New Car is a delightful addition to the bookshelf– and one you won’t mind reading a thousand times in a row.