Blue Bug: The Story of A Girl and A Car

by Ronald Sieber

“Aimée loved the little blue sports car, and she called it ‘Blue Bug’.”

Blue Bug melds a bit of reality with fiction as it introduces young readers to the storied French marque Bugatti and one of its legendary racing drivers, Hellé Nice aka The Bugatti Queen. That places the time somewhere in the 1930s although that’s not relevant to the story itself.

Author Ronald Sieber commissioned Alex Wakefield to illustrate his words.

Wakefield is the artist who created the cover art for Mark Dill’s The Master Driver of the World and he does a particularly fine job with the Bugattis in this book as the interior images and cover show.

As Sieber is also the publisher, he has opted of offer several choices. Two are 8.5 inches square print, one softcover, the other hardbound. Another is a slightly larger at 9.75 inches square deluxe hardbound. There is a digital-only Kindle-friendly e-book as can be seen on his publisher website SteeringWheelPress.com. Still other options include from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and Ingram Spark, each 8.5 inches square.

As Sieber is also the publisher, he chose to print three different presentations. One is an 8.5″ square softcover. Another is a slightly larger at 9.75″ square hardbound, and there are also deluxe hardbound editions as well a digital-only Kindle-friendly e-book. Still other options include an Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) softcover or hardcover as can be seen on his publisher website.

Creating a book for the younger set felt like a natural progression to Sieber. His first book had been a well received hardcover telling of a dozen Classic Speedsters. Then wanting to create something he could share with and read to his own young grandchildren, and having been a reading specialist involved with children’s books during the part of his career spent in the education field, he conceived and wrote this book.

The story Sieber’s Blue Bug tells is of a young girl whose father cares for a wealthy man’s two Bugattis, one a grand tourer, the other a sports car. One day father and daughter were exercising the sports car they called Blue Bug. They paused in town and while her father stepped into a shop for a package, his daughter waited in the car when a lady approaches admiring Blue Bug. That lady introduces herself as Hellé Nice and shows the girl photos of a very similar car she races for Ettore and Jean Bugatti.

There’s a bit more to the story but that’s for readers to discover as they learn the entire story Sieber conceived and wrote. His last sentence is very much a reflection of his intent and desire for this book to instill a sense of hope in the hearts of his book’s young readers; “All three, together, lived happily ever after!”

Blue Bug: The Story of A Girl and A Car

by Ronald Sieber

SteeringWheelPress.com or BlueBugBook.com, 2025

32 pages, 37 color illustrations & 1 photo, 8.5 x 8.5” softcover

List Price: $14.97 softbound, $19.97 hardbound, deluxe $24.97, ebook $5.99

ISBN 13: 978 1 7379 834 5 3

Consider this a PSA: adults reading this book to children may want to start saving (€150 or €285 depending on version) for a book about Hellé Nice worth dreaming of, the sumptuous bibliophile English/French Roaring/Rugissante – La Folle Trajectoire d’Hellé Nice slated for release by RedRunner in Spring 2026; pre-orders (discount price!) for this limited edition are already being taken.