Honk! Splat! Vroom! by Barry Gott

Brian E. Wilson works as a Children’s Librarian at the Evanston Public Librarian where he buys a lot of the kids books and has been known to squeak like mice, honk like geese, vroom like cars, and make other odd yet familiar noises. He has served on the 2015 Odyssey Committee and the 2017 Caldecott Committee.

Honk! Splat! Vroom! Cover image
provided by Brian E. Wilson

Barry Gott's action-packed romp Honk! Splat! Vroom! reminds me in the best possible way of those classic Road Runner and Tweety & Sylvester cartoons I watched as a child. The characters keep trying to outsmart each other and hijinks ensue. In less than 20 words (many of them sound effects) and in only 32 pages, Gott creates a deliriously funny look at five mice trying to win a slapstick-ridden car race.

The reader immediately sympathizes with the critter driving the blue car. At the start of the race, the others leave it behind in a sneeze-inducing cloud of dust. When it sees that the four competitors have become trapped in some mud, the little mouse speeds ahead by using their heads like a bridge, bouncing off each one with an amusing "boink boink boink boink." But then our hero (now an anti-hero?) does something rude. It laughs at its competitors, honks the horn, and peels off laughing with a "VROOM!" Uh-oh, look out for karma. The giggling mouse's mood turns sour when it lands with a SPLASH! in a stream and watches with shock as the others VROOM over its head with a HA! HA! and a HONK! HONK!.

Image provided by Brian E. Wilson

Even at this point in the story, Honk! Splat! Vroom! already possesses many attributes of a serious Geisel contender. Gott creates a vibrant visual experience with his wildly expressive digital illustrations. They serve as amusing keys or clues to the text. Gott also does an excellent job conveying speed. The book's action keeps surprising the reader and invites excited page turns. The layout and design are uncluttered, with the simple words (usually less than eight per double page spread) popping off the page.

Gott then raises the book to another level of hilarity when he introduces a goose who saves the mouse in the blue car. This feathered hero allows the mouse to use its neck like a ramp. I love how Gott uses the word "HONK" here. The cars HONK, and so does the goose.

Image provided by Brian E. Wilson.

This act of kindness introduces a sense of sweetness to the story. Now instant friends, the mouse and goose hug (awwww!) and the goose hops on the back of the blue car for a ride. This sweetness continues when the mouse and goose join forces to save the other four mice now trapped by a ferocious cat. I love the feline's shocked face when the goose and mouse's blue car chase it into a pond, and the whooshing dramatic font used for the goose's no-nonsense HONK!!.

Although Honk! Splat! Vroom! has some peril and mischief, Gott's tale ultimately emerges as a friendship tale inviting cozy repeat readings. Even if the soaked cat would disagree.