Buster Gets Back on Track

by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Overview

Buster is back! NASCAR legend and New York Times bestselling author Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s second children's book features an entertaining off-road adventure story that teaches kids how to handle difficult emotions, starring the lovable Buster the race car!

In Buster Gets Back on Track, Buster and the rest of the Punchy Motorsports team need to ace some brand-new moves at racing school. But when Buster struggles during practice, he gets hot under the hood—and accelerates out of there. After he turns down a path in the woods, Buster discovers a racing team unlike any he's encountered. These large military vehicles know a thing or two about keeping cool under pressure, and their dirt track—complete with tire-sucking swamps and razor-sharp rocks—proves it! Will Buster's off-road challenge show him how to stay calm even when things go wrong, or will Buster's emotions spin out of control?

Full of action-packed artwork from Ela Smietanka, this follow-up to Buster's Trip to Victory Lane

• is ideal for ages 4–8;
• teaches kids how to process their emotions and calm down when they feel overwhelmed;
• is a perfect purchase for back-to-school celebrations, birthdays, and Christmas; and
• is a fun, read-aloud book for story times at libraries and schools.

Kids will love to see Buster get back on track in this heartfelt tale about growing up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400248490
Publisher:	Nelson, Tommy
Publication date:	11/24/2023
Series:	Buster the Race Car
Edition description:	Signed Edition
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	24,847
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver, champion team owner, businessman, television analyst for NBC Sports Group, and inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He won a record 15-straight NASCAR Most Popular Driver awards from 2003 to 2017, consecutive NASCAR Busch Series Championships in 1998 and 1999, and the prestigious Daytona 500 in 2004 and 2014. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling Racing to the Finish and Driver #8, as well as the children's books Buster's Trip to Victory Lane and Buster Gets Back on Track. Dale lives in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Amy, and their two daughters, Isla and Nicole.

Ela Smietanka is a Polish illustrator. She followed her dreams of becoming an artist, graduating from the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, where she now lives with her husband, two sons, and a cat named Brush. Ela loves the mountains and tries to reach the summit once a week.

Editorial Reviews

2023-09-09
In NASCAR champion Earnhardt’s latest, Buster the race car learns how to manage big emotions.

Once again motor sports meet dealings with feelings. Having learned how to cope with performance anxiety in Buster’s Trip to Victory Lane (2022), the young race car now struggles with frustration as team members Click and Jimmy Jam keep winning practice heats. Coach Hog counsels taking a moment: “Breathe in deep. / Count 1, 2, 3. / Breathe out slow. / And off you’ll go!” Before Buster can take that advice to heart, though, he acts out—roaring away from the track into the woods and trying his wheels on a muddy off-road course against retired Humvees Kat and Gus, with no better success. Eventually, of course, he gets back on track both literally and figuratively…and breathes his way to a triumphant win. “But knowing he didn’t have to get stuck in his feelings? Well, that felt even better.” Smietanka puts smiling faces on the grilles of the four-wheeled cast, along with identifying accessories like a ball cap for Buster and pink “camo” for Kat. Racing fans will pore over an aerial view of the entire off-road course, and the cartoon illustrations extend into a trio of closing exercises for any readers who want to try out Coach Hog’s technique in various off-road situations.

Pedal to the metal, but once the dust settles, it’s all about the instructional load. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews