Dixie O'Day: In The Fast Lane

OK, I'm just going to come right out and say it. I don't like books by Shirley Hughes: I don't like Dogger, I don't like the Alfie books and I'm afraid that I don't like Dixie O'Day either.
I'm aware that makes me something of an outcast amongst the Children's Bookselling movement, but I have to be honest about these things. I find her books very staid and samey. Her illustrations are beautiful, but perhaps they are just too much for me. The credits for this book go to Hughes, who has written the text and to her daughter, Clara Vulliamy who has illustrated it.
Anyhow let us get onto Dixie Day and then my issues with him. Dixie O'Day is a dog. He wears clothes and drives a car. He has a friend called Percy, also a dog who wears clothes and likes bow ties. He has a nasty human neighbour called Lou Ella... She reminds me of Penelope Pittstop, but she's not very nice. There's a bit of banter about cars as Lou Ella gets a new car every year but Dixie has an old car he's had for ages. Then there's a minor accident, reminiscent of the last scene of the Italian Job, and the rest of the story is of an all day car race between Didsworth and Dodsworth. There are japes and stalls and tortoise and the hare style issues before we get to the end of the race and, well, you'll have to guess who wins.
In style this book is very similar to the Claude books I adore so much, which may be why I have issues with this book. Don't get me wrong there are lovely things about this book, I like the fact is has seven chapters, one for each night of the week and I enjoyed parts of the story and the 50's retro style of the book has some appeal.
However, there were a couple of things I really didn't like. There is a part of the race where Dixie and Percy are approaching a level crossing and the barriers are going down, so Dixie steps on the accelerator and they get stuck in the barrier only just getting away before the train comes. I'm going to be an old fuddy-duddy here, but I think that is completely irresponsible given all the issues that are had with level crossings these days. I also found Percy to be a bit of a wet blanket. He really didn't add enough to the plot to warrant being there. The whole thing was just a little bland.
I'll finish by saying that it's an OK book for grandparents to buy, as I suspect they are the target market, but to be honest with you I'd buy a Claude book as it will be more entertaining for children and adults alike.