Dusty Crophopper lives in a world of sentient mechanical objects. His ambition is to be a world racer. There's a good message about living one's dreams, working hard, and being kind. But the characterisation is poor, the conversations are stilted, often filled with technical jargon, and much of the storyline often ridiculous (even granting the premise of a world without people or animals).

To be fair it's intended for young children who like the Pixar-style film 'Planes' (which I have never seen, and have no wish to see) and my four-year-old grandson likes this book, which is why I read it to him. But I was unimpressed with the name-calling, some extreme nastiness, and even a few innuendoes which went over his head, but which seemed totally inappropriate for a book of this kind.

Really not recommended! ( )