Elbow Grease by John Cena
Ill. by Howard McWilliam. Penguin Random House, 2018. ISBN
9781524773502
(Age: 4-8) Themes: Monster trucks. Persistence. Determination.
Wrestler and actor John Cena wants this new book series to inspire
children to persevere and believe in themselves. The series features
five monster truck brothers, with this first book focussing on Elbow
Grease, the littlest of the pack. We are introduced to the five
monster trucks on the opening pages and their appearance and
dialogue help to define their unique characteristics. It is nice to
see their mechanic is a young woman, a welcome departure from the
usual image of car sports being a male-only zone. Flash is all about
speed, Pinball is intelligent and strategic, Tank is big and tough
and Crash is courageous. Elbow Grease doesn't have any of these
obvious characteristics but he remains optimistic and cheery because
he has gumption and never, ever gives up. What also makes him
different from his brothers is that he is an electric, rather than a
petrol truck. When Elbow Grease shares his dream, of one day being a
monster truck star his brothers laugh and jeer: 'You're too slow';
'You're too small'; 'Your technique and experience are insufficient
...' Determined to prove them wrong Elbow Grease zooms off to the
Grand Prix by himself. He is 'bashed and smashed and even caught on
fire a little bit, but still - HE KEPT ON GOING!' He doesn't come in
first place but he does finish and all his brothers are there to see
him cross the finish line. The other trucks then realise that they
can only learn new skills if they stick at it; 'a little Elbow
Grease goes a long way!'
There are many speech bubbles showing the dialogue of the trucks,
which help children to understand their individual personalities,
but these are sometimes disjointed from the main text and make the
pages very busy. In addition, some people may be uncomfortable with
how Elbow Grease calls the other trucks 'jalopies', a word which
many children may be unfamiliar with, but is clearly meant as an
insult. There is a nice message here, albeit much too overt, and
young kids who like monster trucks will love the illustrations.
However, it is hard to preach not to stereotype and to broaden your
skills when you have stereotyped your characters by name and given
them a fairly one=dimensional existence. The story and the
production lack a little finesse.
Nicole Nelson