Wheelnuts 5: Rainforest Rumble product reviews

I couldn't pass up the chance to review the latest book in the Wheelnuts series. My son has loved this series from the beginning and while I have found them a little bit lacking, it's his opinion that counts.

This book sees the racers taking to the rainforest and facing a whole set of new and dangerous challenges. The story is fast paced and action packed with bright colour illustrations. Each vehicle has its own specific features and upgrades and the characters are quirky and interesting. There is never a dull moment and while I find the pacing to be a little rushed, my son is on the edge of his seat listening intently the whole time and a couple of chapters a night is never enough. There is also the underlying theme of teamwork, which I like, where the racers work together to defeat Wipeout and his sidekick Dipstick, the bad guys of the series.

The book brings to a close the first ever Wheelnuts race but there is a small hint at the end that suggests there may be more 5 race series to follow. I hope this isn't the end as this series definitely appeals to both boys and girls and I haven't come across any other books like it.

I couldn't go passed the latest in the Wheelnuts range when it came to hand. My daughter has been absolutely loving this series. So much so, we have even bought the books we didn't manage to get as review items. This is book five in the series, and I was shocked to see that it was the last race, and that it ends with the finale winners.

This book has illustrations in full colour. The cover art and all the illustrations inside the book are really engaging and fun cartoons. Because the pages are nice and bright, I often find even my 3 year old flipping through the book and putting together her own story of what might be happening. The pages are all nice and thick and glossy and feels like good quality, with a bit of foiling on the front cover too. It's hard to believe that the book is only $14.

This race is set in the rainforest, and like the other books it has lots of tricks and antics as part of the race. It has bits that are a lot like an episode of Fear Factor. There's a bit of science-fiction magic too. Best of all each car has a sneaky trick installed and they all have a go at cheating. It feels a lot like you are watching a Top Gear challenge unfold on the pages, and my kids are pretty use to watching that sort of thing on TV anyway. In this book some of the cheats are ridiculous but that is a huge part of the fun. Our favourite comes via The Flying Nappy, it got lots of giggles and sparked some imagining about how big it must have been and if it would fit in our house.

We have our favourite cars in the race. My daughter loves the Dino-Wagon. She is quite dinosaur-mad anyway, but she also loves their volcano. This time they also have some extra dino friends to help which was exciting. My favourite is the Supersonic Sparkler, because they remind m a little of the Fairly Odd Parents. The other thing that was cool in this book was the part with Wheelie's evil brother Wipeout. Usually Wipeout's plans are pretty awful and they never amount to anything really. But this time I thought it was pretty genius and looked like it really could have worked.

There is a hint in the book that this is the end of the first-ever Wheelnuts race. I take that to mean that there may be more 5-book race series coming in the future. I know my daughter is hopeful of that because she really enjoyed all of these books. It would be neat to see if the same racers attend, or if we'll be introduced to new teams.