Race Cars

To write a book about white privilege that cuts through our defenses and helps us see the systemic challenges others face is an enormous undertaking. To do this for children requires a gift. This book is a must read for children and will be helpful for their parents, teachers and other adults! This book should be in every classroom, library, Sunday School and home. Jenny Devenny created a must have book for 2021!

The publisher made a copy of this book available via Netgalley. This review is my honest opinion.

This is a terrific title helping children (and perhaps their adult caregivers) about the effects of privilege, using a more neutral race car analogy. It is a simple story with engaging and graphically pleasing illustrations. I also appreciate the conversation guides in the back to help adults who may not be used to talking about issues of race and privilege with young people.

Race Cars by Jenny Devenny is a book for children that addresses racial inequity by presenting a metaphor with two friends, a black race car and a white race car. The black race car encounters multiple obstacles the white race car doesn't. The discussion questions at the end are excellent and will promote productive discussion with children. I think I would have liked this more if it more directly addressed privilege instead of using a racing metaphor. I think its audience would be old enough to understand and identify discrimination.

Thank you Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

This book should be required reading for adults who say “I don’t have privilege”. After reading it I sat and thought about where I can see white privilege in our systems today, such as voter suppression. Privilege is a sensitive conversation for so many people, and this book explains it so clearly and simply, without villainizing the white car, Ace. At the end of the story Ace realizes the privileges that helped him win the race, and has a better relationship with his best friend, a black car, Chase. I would love to see a sequel where Chase and Ace work together to find equitable solutions.

Race Cars by Jenny Devenny is an absolutely amazing book that I would highly recommend to anyone with children – would even recommend for adults to read as well. In my opinion, this book is a great resource to help young children learn about race and privilege on a level where they can understand. Loved the storyline and illustrations! #RaceCars #NetGalley

Race Cars is an amazing book illustrating discrimination and privilege to young children with the help of a trusted adult and two friendly race cars, Chase and Ace. Through the book, the reader is invited to explore the many ways that Chase is discriminated against just for being a "black car." Ace also comes face to face with his own white car privilege. Devenny provides discussion points for parents and educators that are helpful when talking through the book with a young child. Also, the rhyming throughout the book is fantastic and keeps such a deep topic engaging.

Outstanding way to explains white privilege to children. A must read for parents, teacher and children.

I received an electronic ARC from Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books through NetGalley.
Devenny presents a lesson in equity for younger readers. Two race cars - one white, one black - are friends and enjoy racing against each other. White cars have always won the annual race. In fact, white cars have always taken all the places. Then Chase won and the committee was upset that a black car had won. They changed the rules to make it harder for cars other than white ones. Chase still came in second the next year which led to more changes. This pattern continues until a member of the race committee becomes brave enough to speak out and others join her.
Informative text for adults is included before the story as well as questions for discussion at the end. A read together book for families to begin dialogue about equity and awareness. Readers will connect to cars and see the unfair changes in the race course to set up white cars to win. The illustrations add to the story and offer a clear look at the different paths cars must travel. Discussion about the application to broader patterns is helped by the information provided by the author.

Such a great book to start teaching kids early about race and white privilege in a way that’s super accessible and really clever. Great illustrations and a very important message. Highly recommend!!

This touching picture book is an incredible starter to having difficult conversations about race with children. It follows two race cars, a black care named Chase and a white car named Ace, who are best friends and race together every year, Many parents might not know where to start, but this book with a gripping story and obvious analogies will be a great starting point, especially for young kids. Parents will find the guides and notes inside very helpful, and overall this is a must-have for white parents.

I applaud the author for tackling such a difficult topic for any age group to understand, let alone children. This would be best for third through fifth grades, I believe. It will be a good resource for starting important conversations. Highly recommended.

Wonderful book for my preschoolers! Great way to introduce the idea of racism to little ones. I will definitely be using this book in my classroom.

'Race Cars: A children's book about white privilege' by Jenny Devenny takes a difficult topic and presents it for young readers.

Black car and white car like to race. They don't care who wins, but the cars that run the big race do. When black car wins, they add rules to make the race harder for black car to win. White car and black car are confused but both want to keep racing. But the rules get tougher for black car. Is this fair?

It's a simplistic approach to a very complex issue, but does it in a way that children can understand. I applaud the approach. There are discussion questions at the end to continue conversations.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Children's Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.