Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again

Starred review from January 16, 2012
Sir Ian Fleming’s heirs, who have commissioned numerous James Bond sequels, turned to Boyce (Cosmic) to continue Fleming’s 1964 story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, and Boyce delivers: this follow-up outshines the original. The only returning character is the car, and the book’s spirit (surreal craziness) is much closer to Roald Dahl’s 1968 screenplay than it is to Fleming’s novel. In place of Caractacus Potts and Co. are the Tootings, a modern, multiracial family with three children—Goth Lucy, practical Jem, and baby Harry. After Tom Tooting loses his job, his wife buys him a broken-down camper van, which he and Jem renovate, unknowingly fitting it with an engine from Count Zborowski’s famous racecar. Adventures ensue as the van takes the Tootings around the world to collect the rest of its lost parts; the story doesn’t end so much as set up the next installment. Berger adds comical artwork—he even sneaks in a diagram of Bond’s Aston Martin—creating a Chitty that any kid would be thrilled to own. This first volume in a planned trilogy is hilarious and endlessly entertaining. Ages 9–12. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta, the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency.

January 1, 2012
Ian Fleming's strong-minded auto takes a new road trip, and if its passengers are largely just along for the ride, it's still a grand outing. Powering the decrepit camper van that Mr. Tooting is restoring with a massive engine that he finds in the branches of a tree turns out to be like "putting the heart of a Tyrannosaurus rex into a hamster." When he, his wife and their children, Lucy, Jeremy (Jem) and little Harry, climb aboard to take a spin, they find themselves not only roaring down back roads at terrifying speeds but soaring off over the Channel. Chitty, it soon becomes clear, has an agenda: It seems that its headlights have been repurposed atop the Eiffel Tower, its wheels are buried near the Sphinx and its body has somehow washed ashore in Madagascar. Along the way, Cottrell Boyce folds in winking references to the 1964 original and its author (including a certain heavily armed Aston Martin DB5 that James Bond fans will recognize). He also trots in strangely familiar would-be carnappers Tiny Jack and his unctuous but deadly Nanny, along with the odd giant squid or horde of poisonous spiders to keep the Tooting children on their toes. The book ends with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang back together, poised for further outings. Berger depicts the Tootings as a biracial family but otherwise adds to the tale's antique flavor with frequent, retro ink-and-wash drawings. The old racer's still good for another lap—and maybe more. (afterword). (Fantasy. 10-12)

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February 1, 2012
Grades 3-6 Unlike other trendy returns to classic British stories, such as Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006), this isn't a narrative sequel to Ian Fleming's 1964 children's bookthe Tootings, a modern-day, biracial family of five, have never even heard of a flying car called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. (In real life, the eponymous Disney movie should at least ring a bell.) Rather, the esteemed Boyce revisits the general concept of auto-aerial exploits as their camper van, rehabbed with a mysterious old engine found in a junkyard tree, flies the Tootings across the globe, dodging evildoers and reassembling itself with missing pieces, such as headlights from the Eiffel Tower. Like Fleming's (whose family authorized this effort) original, this includes black-and-white spot illustrations, and there are references to his book in the structure and names. But the tone is contemporary, becoming much more Lemony Snickety as the plot progresses. The novel stands on its own as a satisfying, fresh family adventure, and readers will look forward to two forthcoming volumes. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With a deluxe press kit, national publicity campaign, extensive social media outreach, and much more, this is due to receive a fanfare befitting the sequel to a classic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

February 11, 2013
Boyce’s second sequel to Ian Fleming’s original novel picks up where the 2012 book left off, with the discovery that the Tooting family’s flying car has a highly unusual gear, which allows its occupants to travel back and forth in time. Unfortunately, the “Chronojuster” delivers the Tootings to the Cretaceous period, and at the feet of a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex. Events get increasingly more perilous as mother, father, Lucy, Jem, and Little Harry must repeatedly use their wits to avoid death by anaconda, escape the police in Prohibition-era Manhattan, and rescue their car from the residents of the legendary El Dorado. Ostensibly, Chitty (as the Tootings affectionately call their sentient vehicle) is seeking something—a reunion with Count Zborowski, the car’s original owner, or perhaps a second meeting with Commander Pott, the inventor who restored Chitty in Fleming’s book—but that quest is not fulfilled in volume two. Indeed, this installment ends with another cliffhanger. Readers are unlikely to mind, though, since life with the Tootings is the wildest Sunday drive imaginable. Ages 9–12. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta, the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency.

July 1, 2012
When the inventive Tooting family attempts to refurbish a 1960s-style van, they discover they must replace the engine. Little do they know that the vintage Zborowski engine once belonged to Ian Fleming's automotive icon. Searching for all its parts, the car takes the quirky Tootings around the world in an adventure that never quite takes off but offers amusing family dynamics.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 1, 2012

Gr 3-6-The Tootings are your average 21st-century British nuclear family: there's Dad, recently laid off from his job assembling tiny things; Mum, who works at Unbeatable Motoring Bargains; Lucy, a teen always clad in black; Jem, who tries to keep his head down; and Little Harry, the youngest. To distract Dad, who suddenly has too much time on his hands and is driving everyone crazy, Mum brings home a decrepit pop-top 1966 camper van for him to fix up. When he and Jem find a giant old engine at a junkyard and install it in the vehicle, suddenly it has a mind of its own-not to mention a pair of green and chrome wings that may be familiar to some readers. Although the story is inventive and picturesque, with billionaire crooks, a visit to Madagascar, and a guest appearance on a French reality show called Car Stupide, most of the humor in this very funny novel is a result of the family's interactions with one another. Occasional British terms ("lift," "motorway"), while initially puzzling, are quickly made clear by the context. Berger's lively cartoon illustrations depict each phase of Chitty's reincarnation in loving detail and bring the resourceful Tootings to life. This witty sequel to Ian Fleming's 1964 novel stands on its own equally well-Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD

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