Rain Forest Rumble
Series: WheelNuts! Craziest Race on Earth #5
Written and Illustrated by Knife & Packer
Kane Miller EDC Publishing  1/01/2016
978-1-61067-399-0
94 pages     Ages 7—10

“Buckle up for
WHEELNUTS!
the Craziest Race on Earth!

“Six kooky cars, five extreme courses, ONE winner!
In Rain Forest Rumble, drivers will
find that the road ahead is dangerous.
Can they deal with:
VICIOUS Creepy-crawlies?!
RAVENOUS Crocodiles?!
SPOOKY Monkey Temples?!
Which team will come out on top?
The rules are simple—
there
ARE NO
rules!”
[back cover]

Review
On your MARK!

Get SET!

GOOOOO!

And they are off. Five crazy cars driven by even crazier drivers and navigators. They are ready for the next leg of the craziest race on Earth. The teams have already conquered desert, snow, jungle, and underwater terrains, plus the moon. Now driving on this final leg of the WheelNuts racing the team must conquer the rainforest. Billionaire Warren “Wheelie” Wheelnut masterminded this absurd race, never believing these teams could finish his monstrous racecourses. They have, and the final winner is . . .

WheelNuts is simply silly racing young kids will love. If they like Hot Wheels, maybe owning their own orange racetrack, they will get a kick out of the Wheelnuts Racing series. This is number five and the final in this team series. Speaking of teams, who are the most daring racecar teams in the world? Why, they are nuts that’s for sure. Meet the teams:

Rust Bucket 3000 – a high-tech robot tank, driven by the team of Nutz and Boltz (super-techie robots).

The Wheel Deal – souped-up stretch limo for superstars Dustin Grinner and Myley Twinkles.

Dino-Wagon – a prehistoric, volcano-powered car driven by the Dino-Crew of Turbo Rex and Flappy.

The Flying Diaper – a (baby) gas-powered diaper driven by Gurgle and Burp, the grossest team in the race.

When she is truly using the toilet independently (which is what the term toilet training should mean), your child is able to dress and undress on her own. The main reason to switch from diapers to training pants is because your child can’t remove her diaper by herself. So keep her in cloth diaper training pants until you can see signs (such as straining, grunting, or holding her genitals) that she is about to go.

The Supersonic Sparkler – a magical winged speedster driven by Nelly and Dee-Dee, two fairies with magic dust in their veins.

The Jumping Jalopy – a 1930s Bugazzi driven with “old-school cunning” by a grandfather-grandson team relying on their skill to cross the finish line before the other teams.

Young boys will especially like the announcer-like narration of the story as the race progresses through one dangerous turn after another. There are pitfalls along the way one will not see on any average NASCAR or INDY race. In this final leg, the Rain Forest Rumble pits the teams against insect small and large, toucans, vultures, and other birds not happy with cars invading their rainforest. Mr. Wheelnuts arranged for each team to outfit itself with one special feature, such as the Dino-Wagon’s giant roaring dino that pops out of its volcano to scare away whatever is in front of the prehistoric car. Good thing these cars are specially outfitted given that Wheelnuts is pulling some mighty strange stunts on the teams. For one, he made all the rainforest insects huge, a definite danger for each team.

The action is rampant, never leaving the reader without something strange and fast on the course. The pages will fly past faster than the cars in this goofy race. Each book in the series is one leg of this far-out adventure, with Rain Forest Rumble the last and craziest leg to concur. Every racing team makes it to the checkered flag though it doesn’t always look like this will happen. Kids will enjoy the fast pace and the unusual obstacles.

The illustrations definitely enhance the story. Full-page illustrations cover the book from cover to cover. Wheelnuts is a finely crafted chapter book for kids who love adventure and silly storylines. Wheelnuts is also perfect for the reluctant reader. The illustrations help keep focus on the race and will help the reluctant reader keep pace with the story.

If you love adventure, fast-paced action, goofy out-of-this-world characters and situations, and unpredictable endings, Wheelnuts is the chapter book to read. Nothing will keep kids glued to the pages and laughing hardily as Wheelnuts. It is virtually impossible to become bored with the Wheelnuts series and the final race, Rain Forest Rumble, is no exception.

RAINFOREST RUMBLE (WHEELNUTS! CRAZIEST RACE ON EARTH #5). Text and Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Knife & Packer. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Kane Miller EDC Publishing, Tulsa, OK.

Amazon—Book Depository—Indie Books—Kane Miller.

Find Rain Forest Rumble on Goodreads HERE.

Knife & Packer:  http://knifeandpacker.com/

“Knife”aka Duncan McCoshan
Follow on Twitter         @knife6161

“Packer” aka Jem Packer
Follow on Twitter          @JemPacker

Kane Miller EDC Publishing: http://www.kanemiller.com  & http://www.edcpub.com
Follow on Twitter          @kanemillerbooks

Originally published in 2015 © Scholastic Australia.

Wheelnuts! Craziest Race on Earth
1. Desert Dustup
2. Spooky Smackdown
3. Space Mash
4. Deep-sea Dash
5. Rain Forest Rumble

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Reprinted with permission from RAINFOREST RUMBLE (WHEELNUTS! #5) © 2015 by Knife & Packer, Kane Miller EDC Publishing, Illustrations © 2015 by Knife & Packer.

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Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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Full Disclosure: Rainforest Rumble (WheelNuts! Craziest Race on Earth #5) by Knife & Packer, and received from Kane Miller EDC Publishing, is in exchange NOT for a positive review, but for an HONEST review. The opinions expressed are my own and no one else’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Rainforest Rumble
Series: WheelNuts! Craziest Race on Earth #5
Written and Illustrated by Knife & Packer
Kane Miller EDC Publishing 1/01/2016
9781610673990