Are We There Yet?

A little boy is on the way to his Grandma's birthday party in the car with mum and dad, but after the first hour, the journey gets more and more boring. But as the little boy feels the hours ahead weigh heavy on the horizon, his imagination (or is it?) takes the car further and further into the past until there's a very real possibility that he and his mum and dad might be eaten by a dinosaur! Neither does it work to wish time away too fast, the family end up in the future and Grandma's house isn't even there anymore! Finally, the best thing is to try and stay in the moment, the place where all the best things happen.

This stylish but accessible slightly graphic novel-style picture book for older children is structured so that readers have to turn the book upside down and back again to follow the story, echoing the themes of going forwards and backwards in time. The message about enjoying the moment you're in and not wishing it away is a perennial one for children, and Are We There Yet? has a similarly charming life-as-journey feel to Dr Seuss' Oh The Places You'll Go, ensuring its appeal to young and older readers.