Ed Radlauer

Young readers learn about a variety of wheeled vehicles, including unicycles, tricycles, trucks, and cars.

Wheels, Wheels, and More Wheels

Sarah Sammis

Ed and Ruth Radlauer collaborated on close to 150 books over two decades. They were at their height of publishing in the mid 1960s through the end of the 1970s. Then in the early 1990s, they published a couple more books, one of which is Wheels, Wheels and More Wheels.

I have tried searching for information on the Radlauers and specifically the book I'm reviewing but I haven't had any luck beyond verifying the order in which their books were first published at the Library of Congress catalog. The old looking photographs in the book is the reason why I wanted to find out more about its publication history.

Wheels, Wheels and More Wheels doesn't look like a book published in 1992. The photographs show strange vehicles in city settings that remind me of my childhood (late 1970s). All things in the photographs point to a time earlier than 1992. The cars, the fashions, the hair styles, the eye glasses and so forth all peg these photographs as being from earlier.

When I first read Wheels, Wheels and More Wheels, I made a note that the book could have been a repackaged version of an older book called Wild Wheels (1974). Frankly, though, there are so many different books about wheeled vehicles that it's possible the photographs were taken from a wider selection than just one. Another possibility is that the Radlauers found some previously unpublished photographs in their collection. I just don't know.

Regardless of the book's history, it is a fun read for the 4 to 8 set. The photographs give the book a funky retro feel. Parents who were children in the 1960s or 1970s might enjoy pointing out the differences from then and now. Children and parents will enjoy all the wacky vehicles included in this book.

Wheels, Wheels, and More Wheels

Reviews