Kids' Guide to Cars and Rovers
Kids' Guide to Cars and Rovers
Roving Photographer
By John Grandits
May/June 2020 Volume 23 Number 5 cricketmedia.com $6.95 Illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye
Astronauts on the
moon drove cars
called lunar rovers.
There are millions of The USA sent three
cars in this world, but the rovers to the moon.
coolest cars are out of They’re still there!
this world.
Scientists
on Earth steer
Curiosity by remote
control. They plan to
send another rover, I wonder if I need my
Perseverance, to Mars Earth driver’s license
later this year. to drive a rover.
Vroom
vroom
ks Cl os er
oo
L
Click
What Is It?
T his funny-looking vehicle is the world’s
first car! It was made more than 100
years ago in 1885. It had a small gas engine
in back. The driver steered it with the stick
in front. Count its wheels. Can you see how
Want a ride,
Jane?
else it’s different
from today’s
cars?
2
It’s such a nice day
today. I’m going to
wash the wagon.
I ran through a
mud puddle on
the way over.
Sure! Grab
a sponge.
3
After hauling dirt
all week, my truck
is unbearably dirty.
4
Swimming in the
bucket makes
more bubbles!
5
Uh, guys, we
have more
customers.
LATER
Yeah, we
have washed
a lot of
vehicles.
And made a
lot of new
Whew! friends.
What a day.
6
Hi!
Are you the
kids who have
been doing the
car washes?
How many
scoops would
you like?
BEST
Can I have
DAY
one for every
EVER!
car I washed?
7
Ca r P a r t s
art by Mark Hicks
Hi, Otto. Look at
my new car.
Headlights let
the driver see the
road in the dark.
Every car has a license plate Turn signals flash on
with a different set of numbers and off to tell other
and letters so it can be drivers which way the car
matched to its owner. is turning.
art © 2020 by Mark Hicks
8
Open this little door to
put fuel in a gas or diesel Wow, Cara.
car or charge the battery It has so many
in an electric car. cool parts!
9
Some cars have motors
powered by electricity
stored in batteries. My car
makes its power by burning
What makes gas inside an engine.
it go?
battery
engine
spark plug
gas-air
piston spray
The exhaust
h valve closes,
and stroke 1 starts again.
The spinning
When I start the crankshaft connects
car, electricity from to gears and rods
the battery starts the and makes them spin
crankshaft turning. But too. When the axle
once the explosions spins, its wheel turns
begin, the pistons and the car moves.
keep the crankshaft Let’s go!
spinning.
12
and-Go-Seek
Drive- cey Lane
• a rt b y Pau la Becker
by Sta
13
14
Can you find
the cars and trucks
named on page 13?
The answers are on
page 34.
15
My friend
Danny Bender
races cars.
16
Click: What are those?
Danny: Races where everyone
drives the same kind of car
from the same maker. Winning Danny’s racecar.
depends more on a driver’s skill than
having a fancy, expensive
car. I usually race a
Mazda Miata.
Click: I didn’t know there
were different types of
races.
Danny: There are all
kinds—short ones that
Stock cars race on oval
finish in just a few seconds, tracks. They can go
long ones that last all day and night, around and around 50 or
races on special more times.
tracks ones on
tracks, Drag races last only
eets, and
city stre a few seconds. The
racers go as fast as
ones thhat take
they can down a
place on sand short, straight track.
or mud d or snow
nowhe ere near a
road.
Regular cars drive best on
paved roads. But sand,
mud, and snow don’t slow
down off-road racers.
17
Click: Cool! How long do
your races last?
Danny: Most of my races
are about 30 minutes long.
But I’ve also competed in
6-hour races and even a
12-hour race.
Danny usually races a Click: I don’t know if I could sit in a car that
Mazda Miata . . .
long. I need lots of snack breaks.
Danny: Well, for the long races, there are
always two drivers, and we take turns.
Click: How fast do you go?
Danny: In my racecar, I can go more than
. . . but he loved getting
the chance to drive an
130 miles per hour. My top speed on a track
Indy car. is around 160 miles per hour.
Click: Wow! That’s two or
three times faster than
cars on expressways.
Danny: Yes, and Indy cars
and other open-wheel cars
are even faster. Their top
speeds are more than 200
miles per hour.
18
Click: Is it fun going
that fast?
Danny: You bet. It’s
thrilling, but it’s also
hard work.
Click: What do you
mean?
Danny: Well, when you
go that fast, you feel
heavy forces pressing
and pulling on you.
Click: Oh, like when
I’m riding in a car that
makes a fast turn, it sometimes A service crew checks
feels like I’m getting pushed sideways. every part of Danny’s car
between races to make
Danny: Exactly, and the faster the car goes, sure it is running its best.
The difference between
the harder those pushes feel. I need to be finishing first and second
strong to hold my body in place. can be less than a second,
faster than you can blink.
Click: I guess I’m not so strong. I tilt a lot.
Danny: My brain is hard at work too.
I need to pay close attention to the track,
how my car is running, and the other cars,
so I can figure out how to get out front
and win.
19
Click: How did you learn to
do all that?
Danny: A lot of it is practice.
I’ve been racing since I
was a kid. I started with
go-karts.
Danny’s dad raced cars Click: My neighbor down the street has a
too. Danny sat in his dad’s Miata. Could he race his car?
racecar every chance he
got. Danny: Not as is. The car I race has been
changed to make it faster and safer. There
are rules about what can be changed, but
it’s not legal to drive racecars on the street.
My car gets moved to the racetrack in a
The roof of Danny’s car
special truck.
can be put on and off.
With it off, you can easily
Click: How is it different from my neighbor’s
see the yellow roll cage. car?
Danny: One big difference
is the passenger seat was
taken out and a special
driver’s seat put in. It has
a 5-point seat belt like the
one on a kid’s car seat. It
also has a metal roll cage
to protect a driver in a
crash.
20
Click: Yikes!
Danny: Don’t worry. I’m
very careful, and my
clothes protect me too.
Everything I wear—long
underwear, socks, shirt,
hood, coverall, gloves, shoes, and helmet— Danny always wears his
is all fireproof. helmet and seat belt.
Click: How do you get ready for a race? Danny wins. Hooray!
21
What Signs? art by Ed Miller Who turned
out the lights?
This road
sure is curvy.
Watch out
for that
deer, Dad.
22
Oh great.
More road
construction.
I see an
airplane.
Mom, I’m
hungry.
Is that a
train I hear?
Guess we
can’t turn
right here.
23
Big Rigs
The cab doesn’t
have a back
window. The
driver uses side
mirrors to see
what’s behind.
T
rucks carry goods anywhere
that roads can go. The
biggest trucks used to move
cargo are called big rigs,
18-wheelers (count the wheels!),
or semi-trailer trucks. Each one
has two parts. The tractor holds
the engine and
the driver’s seat.
The semi-trailer
holds the cargo.
It’s called a semi-
trailer because
it has no front
wheels, only
back wheels.
The part
of the
tractor
where the A truck’s cab is
driver sits high above the
is called road. The driver
the cab. climbs these
steps to get
inside.
24
Smoke and fumes
from the engine Some cabs
escape through tall have a built-
pipes on either in bed where
side of the cab. the driver can
rest after a
long day on
the road.
25
A dump trailer is
great for moving
gravel, coal, sand, and
other loads that can be
dumped on the ground
when they’re delivered.
When the front end
is raised up, the load
tumbles out the back.
A tanker trailer
holds liquid cargo,
like milk or oil. The
liquid flows into the
tanker through a
hose.
A car carrier
trailer holds—cars!
It has a built-in
ramp for driving the
cars on and off.
A flatbed trailer
can carry oddly
shaped items that
are hard to load
and fit into a box,
like big boulders or
logs.
26
On the
Road
by Maureen Ash
art by Sylvie Kantorovitz
28
“Why do we need so many?” asked Dagny.
“There’s one for each state we’ll be driving
through—Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.”
Early the next morning, Bea and Dagny
watched as Mom zipped their fancy dresses
into a garment bag and then carefully placed
the bag on top of the luggage in the trunk.
“OK,” said Mom. “Let’s go!” Dad made
sure Bea and Dagny had their seat belts
buckled, then he settled into the front
seat. Mom revved the engine and backed
down the driveway. “On the road again,”
she sang as she headed down the street.
But Mom didn’t sing for long.
“Why are we going so slow?” asked Dagny.
“Traffic jam,” sighed Mom. Cars and buses
and taxis crowded them on all sides.
29
They bumped along a narrow street. Bea noticed
a cat sleeping on the porch of a yellow house
e.
Dagny saw two boys playing catch and a ma an
walking a big, black dog.
They made a few more turns and were soo on
zooming along on a bigger, wider street. “On
n
the road again,” sang Dad.
30
“A street map’s no good here, Daggles,” said
Dad. “This is Interstate 90. It’s a highway.” Dad
handed Dagny his phone and pointed to a yellow
line. “See the red and blue shield? Interstate
highways are always marked with that sign. Can
you find Interstate 90 on your map of Wisconsin?
Remember, on a printed map, the top is always
north. Right now we’re headed toward the top of
your map.”
31
They were on State Highway 23 in
Minnesota now. Instead of a shield, it
had an oval-shaped label on the map.
There were only two lanes of traffic, and
sometimes huge trucks passing from the
opposite direction made a wind that rocked
the car.
Bea was the first to see the buildings on
one side of the road ahead.
Dagny was the first to see the
green sign that read Bock,
population 115.
“Here we are!” said Mom.
“This is Bock?” asked
Bea. “It’s kind of small.”
“Which house is
Anne’s?” asked Dagny. “Is
it on my map?”
“No, but Uncle Bob
sent a map for you.”
32
Dad fished in the car bag and pulleed out a
piece of paper.
“It’s just lines,” Dagny said. “It’s just
a picture Uncle Bob drew.”
“Exactly right,” said Mom. “Each line l
is a road.”
“Turn here on Wall Avenue,” Dad said.
“Then turn right on Toberg Street. It’’s—”
“I see them!” cried Bea. And she w was
right. Uncle Bob and Anne were standing in
front of a white house, smiling and aving.
The wedding was the most fun Bea and Dagny had d
ever had. Bea made up a tongue twister, saying “Aunt
Anne” very fast, over and over. But too soon it was
time to go home.
“Call to let us know you got home safely!” Aunt
Anne leaned in the car window to kiss Bea and Dagny.
“Goodbye! Goodbye!” Eveeryone waved. Then
they were driving awa ay, leaving Bock.
“Bye, Bock,” said Bea.
“Bye, Bock, bbye, Bock, bye, Bock!”
said Dagny. N Now they had another
tongue twisteer.
“Wh here’s my map?”
asked Dagny. Dad searched
through the car bag, but
thee map wasn’t there.
“There it is! Dad’s
sittting on it.” Bea
ointed and laughed.
po
“On the road map
aga ain!” she sang.
33
What you need
clothespin I’m going to
make two and
2 five-inch twist ties race them.
4 large buttons (2 matching pairs)
2 one-inch pieces of a drinking
straw
glue
Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following publishers and copyright owners for permission to reprint Answers to Drive-and-Go-Seek on pages 14–15.
selections from their publications. All possible care has been taken to trace ownership and secure permission for
each selection. “What Signs?” art © 2006 by Ed Miller. “On the Road” text © 2000 by Maureen Ash, art © 2000
by Sylvie Kantorovitz. “Going to Grandma’s” art © 2008 by Patrick Girouard.
Special thanks to Danny Bender.
Photo acknowledgments: Cover pavla/Shutterstock.com; 2 (CC) Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Stock
Photo; 16–21 (border) My Portfolio/Shutterstock.com; 16 (LC) Action Sports Photography/Shutterstock.com; 16
(RB) Danny Bender; 17 (RT) Mitchell Bender; 17 (RC) action sports/Shutterstock.com; 17 (CC) Phillip Rubino/
Shutterstock.com; 17 (RB) Rodrigo Garrido/Shutterstock.com; 18 (LT) Danny Bender; 18 (LB), 19 (RT), 20 (all), 21
(all) Mitchell Bender; 24– 25 (DPS) rCarner/Shutterstock.com; 24 (LB) Joseph Sibilsky/Alamy Stock Photo; 25 (RT)
Zoonar GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo; 25 (RC) Stephen Barnes/Transport/Alamy Stock Photo; 25 (RB) Peter Titmuss/
Shutterstock.com; 26 (RT), 26 (RB) Robert Pernell/Shutterstock.com; 26 (LB) Mike Kuhlman/Shutterstock.com; 29
(LB), 31 (CC), 32 (LC) Map data ©2020 Google; back cover (RT) NASA; back cover (LC) NASA/JPL-Caltech.
34
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