E ARC provided by Netgalley

I vividly remember reading an SRA card (I think it was Turquoise) about the Cars of the Future, in about 1974. The cards were probably published at least a decade previously, judging from the illustration style. Cars would be like living rooms on wheels, and would drive themselves, if we ever got tired of getting places with our jet packs. It was a little hard to take this book seriously, even though I am sure it was well researched. We do have some autonomous autos now, don't we?


This is a very early reader discussion of the future, and talks about how cars will be able to take children to school without their parents, remind them to eat breakfast, and come equipped with a desk for them to finish last minute home work. The pictures are bright and somehow slick-- notice the smooth quality of the car on the cover. The future is always aerodynamic, isn't it? It's the past that is rectangular.

This was too young for my students, but I desperately want to order the whole set (including My School, My Home, and My City). Wouldn't it be fun to have My Car in 2020, published in 1980? For that matter, I wish I had the entire set of career picture books from my elementary school in 1970. How have those changed? Ah, retrofuturism. What a delightful rabbit hole.

This is a really fun concept for a nonfiction book that’s filled with facts, but also speculation and imagination. It opens up the door for readers to question and wonder. It makes room for lots of discussion and for a STEAM/Maker mindset.