Common Sense Media Review
By Jan Carr
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Car trip turns to time travel in highly imaginative story.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In ARE WE THERE YET?, a boy and his parents are traveling to Grandma's for her birthday. It's a long drive, and "after the first hour, it can feel like an eternity." Readers have to turn the book around and upside down to read the next lines of text and are prompted by arrows to turn the next pages backward -- at which point, the car starts traveling back in time. It passes a horse and rider racing an old locomotive, gets stuck on the plank of a pirate ship, drives past a jousting match and into ancient Egypt, and pulls to a stop amid dinosaurs. With a reminder to "take a second to savor the moment you're in," the reader turns the book again, and the car starts moving forward, overshoots Grandma's party into the future and finally arrives.
Is It Any Good?
A car trip to Grandma's that seems endless becomes a trip through time in this highly imaginative book that turns readers' expectations -- and the book itself -- upside down. When a boy starts getting fidgety and asking his parents "Are we there yet?", readers are prompted to turn the book physically, and, as if they're turning a steering wheel, the car veers and travels back in time. Pirates! Medieval jousters! The unusual formatting adds a fun, interactive element, and each spread travels back a bit further, providing lots to look at and talk about.
Some kids will delight in turning the book -- and the conventions of reading -- upside down. Others who don't yet read themselves (so don't know how to follow the trail of text) and who are still getting the hang of turning pages the "right" way, may be confused by the upending of expectation. The rollicking adventures are tied up at the end with a gentle and well-earned lesson about life having twists and turns and the importance of enjoying the ride.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about long trips. Do you get bored? What can you do to amuse yourself? What's worked in the past and what hasn't?
What happens when you follow the direction of the text and turn the book around? Why do you think the arrows guide you to turn the pages in the other direction?
When the car travels back in time, how do the parents react? How does the boy react? Why do you think the author-illustrator gave them such different experiences?
Book Details
- Author: Dan Santat
- Illustrator: Dan Santat
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Dinosaurs , Adventures , History , Pirates , Trains
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date: April 12, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 3 - 6
- Number of pages: 40
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 13, 2017
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
What to Read Next
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate