Roy makes a car / Mary E. Lyons ; based on a story collected by Zora Neale Hurston ; illustrated by Terry Widener.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"If Roy Can't Fix It,
Nobody Can"
Down in Eatonville, Florida, there's a man who can clean spark plugs just by looking at them hard, and who can grease an axle faster than you can say "carburetor." Folks round those parts claim Roy Tyle might just be the best mechanic in the world. But Roy, you know, he never can find an automobile made to suit him. He figures, if a car was built right, there wouldn't be so many collisions out on the road. And so when Roy -- that wonder-making man -- says he's going to make an accident-proof car, there's no telling what he'll cook up behind his double-locked doors....
Based on a tall tale collected by legendary African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston, Mary E. Lyons's souped-up story is perfectly complemented by Terry Widener's bold, dramatic illustrations.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Lyons (Feed the Children First) and Widener (Girl Wonder) turbocharge a folktale originally collected by Zora Neale Hurston as part of the 1930s Federal Writers' Project (as stated in an author's note). Adding a heavy dose of southern dialect, Lyons recounts the tale of a mechanic in Eatonville, Fl., with brisk pacing and plenty of colloquialisms. "People from those parts think Roy Tyle is the best mechanic in the state.... Why, he can grease an axle faster than you can say `carburetor,' and he can clean spark plugs just by looking at them hard." When Roy produces-in only an hour-an "accident-proof car," a gambling man bets against him, trying to instigate fender-benders involving Roy's "stabilated, lubricated, banjo-axled, wing-fendered, low-compression, noncollision car." Widener's acrylics take up the playful exaggeration of the text, depicting scenes of the jet-black, 1930s-styled wonder auto rising up and over (or sliding, low-slung, underneath) the challengers' vehicles. The wide-eyed faces and exaggerated features of the townsfolk add a comic edge and emphasize the hyperbolic tone. After selling a flying car to God, Roy continues puttering in his workshop, leaving readers to wonder what he's up to next. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-5-During the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston collected stories for the Florida Federal Writers' Project, including a two-paragraph tale about a mechanic with amazing skill. Lyons has taken that version and, with the ease of a seasoned storyteller, spun a longer yarn. Roy Tyle's abilities are widely known. "Why, he can grease an axle faster than you can say `carburetor....'" When he claims that he can make an accident-proof automobile, a gambler challenges him. When the car does everything that Roy promised, the gambler pays up, and Roy sells the machine for a bundle. When he builds a model with winged flaps that he flies "way up in the sky," God spies him and buys it on the spot. "'Tain't no telling what he'll try next." Widener's acrylic paintings are as strong and monumental as the tall tale and reminiscent of Thomas Hart Benton's work. Dramatic angles and points of view enhance the excitement of the story. In the opening illustration, readers look into Roy's eye, which is giving a hard look at the spark plug in the foreground. The drama continues as the artist contrasts brilliant outside colors with the dark, mysterious interior of Roy's garage. Dumbfounded facial expressions reflect the story's straight-faced humor. Children will have anything but straight faces when they read or hear this tale. Southern storytelling at its best.-Carolyn Janssen, Children's Learning Center of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

PreS-Gr. 2. Lyons expands a two-paragraph tall tale, collected by Zora Neale Hurston for the Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s, into a wildly funny story about a gifted car mechanic. Roy is so exceptional that he can grease an axle faster than you can say \lquote carburetor,' and he can clean spark plugs just by looking at them hard. No one believes him, however, when he says that he can build an accident-proof car, a stabilated, lubricated, banjo-axled, wing-fendered, low-compression, noncollision car. Perfect for reading aloud, the funny rhythmic words are well matched to Widener's exaggerated acrylic illustrations, which show sly Roy and his huge, flying 1930s-style car. Young car enthusiasts will enjoy the silly mechanical details, and Lyon's lively afterword about storycatcher Hurston is a delight. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2005 Booklist

Horn Book Review

(Primary) You might grin at Lyons's ""souped-up version"" of a Zora Neale Hurston story about a master auto mechanic who sells his flying motorcar to God -- the streamlined, skewed illustrations suit both the outrageous tale and the snappy modernism of the 1930s. At the same time, you might cock an eyebrow at Lyons's assertion that she expanded the story ""like Hurston, who often recycled and expanded folklore"" -- as if lifting phrases from 1930s auto ads and drawing on dialogue in ""stories from my southern childhood,"" as Lyons has done, were equivalent to Hurston, an anthropologist and a literary stylist, fleshing out stories told by her Eatonville, Florida, neighbors. In expanding the tale, furthermore, Lyons muddles the story line. As originally told, Roy proves he can make a collision-proof car by making one that runs under the other cars, then makes another one that flies over them; looping the loop, it catches the eye of God. In Lyons's version, the car ""buzzes around,"" ""cruises over,"" and then runs under the other cars -- an elaboration that turns the crux of Hurston's story into an anticlimax. Whether Hurston would be pleased at the liberties taken with her authentic material is doubtful -- she was critical of the free use made of ""John Henry,"" for one prominent example -- but she, along with Roy himself, might crack a smile at the pictures. The spirit, if not the story, is intact. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

Lyons wheels out a terrific new tall-tale character in a Florida yarn based on a fragment collected by Zora Neale Hurston. Disturbed by the number of collisions around the town of Eatonville, which lies "somewhere west of Christmas and north of Boogy's Corner," legendary auto mechanic Roy Tyle builds a car that can sail over a tall Chevy sedan, under a low-slung Buick, and around anything else on the road. Not content with that, though, he welds golden wings onto his next "Roy-mobile" and flies it up past heaven's bleachers so right smart that God buys it for His angels. Widener fills his Depression-era scenes with sleek roadsters and dark-skinned, strongly molded faces in rolling, Thomas Hart Benton-style settings, then closes with a small cameo of Hurston over a tantalizing account of her career as a folklorist. Roy's working on a new project now; Lyons invites readers to take a peek, warning, "But don't stand too close! That Roy Tyle is a wonder-making man. 'Tain't no telling what he'll try next." (source note) (Picture book/folktale. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.