After seeing some friends saying they were going to head out to the Kansas International Dragway for some “Throwback Drags” last Saturday night, I decided I needed to go check it out. I was in the area anyways for the Blacktop Nationals after hitting the Rev It Up show in Lawrence, KS that morning.
Book Review: “Grandpa’s Hotrod” by Jay Danniel Sweet
Last Christmas I found out just how difficult it is to find a book that’s both good for kids and hot rod based. I looked and looked and came up with just a handful of choices, most of which were not that good. Now I can add a good book to that list.
“Grandpa’s Hotrod” is a story of a young man who finds his grandfather’s deuce roadster and as young men have a habit of doing, he talks his grandpa into making it run again. It’s a short story so I won’t spoil any more of it, but as car folk we all know it. The passion for hot rods is largely passed down from generation to generation, this book is a wonderful tool for doing just that. Read it to your kids or grand kids, then let them find the hot rod in your “barn” and help you bring it back to life. Even if that involves you pretending to fix something that isn’t really broken.
The illustrative breakdown of the hotrod and all of its modifications can be a fun tool to teach a youngster about the differences in the cars over the years and can be a great stepping off point for fun conversations about what they might do to a Hotrod of their own.
The illustrations were also done by the author as well as the publishing. This book is as home grown an effort as you can get. The kind of home grown DIY effort that you should support, in hopes that there are more books to follow.