An Unauthorized Future Driver’s Guide
by Robert M. Kennedy
“Spark your child’s interest in automotive history, accelerate . . . understanding of basic automotive terms and concepts, and fuel a lifelong passion for car culture.”
Each of these 32-page softcover books stands alone. While the author/publisher would certainly happily sell you all eight of his full color books intended for the youthful audience, pick the one or ones your intended recipient will find the most interesting.
From Antique American Cars.
Each is organized similarly with information about the vehicle or its maker at the top of each page. The lower portion of the page features a young boy or girl asking a question of the reader. It is this purposeful interactivity that is behind the author/publisher’s comment that any one of these books is “best read with a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle” as each has “been written specifically to encourage intergenerational bonding and storytelling . . . geared to shift its readers into conversation inspired by the characters’ observations and questions.”
The author and his sons, who currently are 10 and 11 years old, are credited with co-authorship along with their dad, Robert M. Kennedy, of the last one to publish. It is about Military Vehicles divided into four sections—one each for Army, Navy which includes the Marines, the Air and Space Forces, and the Air and Army National Guards. Within each section are some of its vehicles be they land-going, afloat, or flying machines.
From the Military Vehicles book.
The interior pages shown from the Military Vehicles book offer the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that purposeful interactivity. The top of the righthand page reads “Following their first successful flight on December 12, 1903, the Wright Brothers built two prototype airplanes for the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps (that would become our U.S. Air Force). The first Wright Military Flyer crashed in September 1908, but the second remains on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum.”
At the bottom the young girl’s “balloon” reads, “My mom is a pilot in the Air Force and she told me that both these wooden airplanes used the same 35-horsepower engine. She says after the first one crashed, they salvaged the engine and reused it in the second plane! Have you ever flown in a plane?”
From Porsches.
Each book is thoughtfully and intelligently crafted. The marque-specific titles trace their subject from earliest introduced to current day. So 60 years of Mustangs in 32 pages, 70 years of Corvettes, and more than 85 years of Porsches. The multi-marque titles also do a fine job of representing their respective genre of cars over a broad spectrum of years. Kennedy differentiates Antique from Vintage with antique primarily pre-WW II, with a tip of the hat to the earliest steam and electric power as well. Vintage is post-war noting different types of vehicles including pick-up trucks and an interesting mixture of extant and orphaned makes and models.
From Muscle Cars.
Copyright 2026 Helen V Hutchings (speedreaders.info)
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