Children (and adults) that enjoy Pixar's Cars movies will love this collection of animated shorts. Everyone's favorite rusty tow truck, Mater, tells a variety of humorous, unbelievable stories about his past adventures as a firefighter, matador, and daredevil, among others. When Lightening McQueen inevitably doubts each of Mater's stories, Mater insists that they not only happened but that Lightening was present for them and in fact had to be saved by Mater in many of the scenarios. Young children will appreciate the physical humor, while older children and adults will recognize the complexity and references in the jokes. The collection is family friendly, but does include some references to drinking and drugs; though they will likely go over the heads of children, parents will probably notice them. Those probably wouldn't be a surprise to families that are familiar with the cars franchise or other Disney-Pixar animated films. Familiar characters and the short format of the stories will hold the interest of small children. ( )