The starting line of the Rubberdale Derby

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The Rubberdale Derby

Name: The Rubberdale Derby
Availability: InStock
Author: Wanderly

It's that time of year again: The Rubberdale Derby! Six colorful characters zoom through meadows, forests, and hills in their unique vehicles. Along the way, you'll help your character make important choices about racing strategy, helping friends, using special abilities, and finding creative shortcuts. Will teamwork, speed, or clever thinking win the day? The adventure is full of surprises, friendship, and fun!

PerseveranceConfidenceDecision MakingRubberdale

About This Story

What your child will experience

Your child picks a racer and makes choices throughout an exciting derby race—deciding when to use special abilities, whether to help friends or race ahead, and how to solve problems like navigating obstacles or choosing shortcuts. They also choose whether their character wins or loses, then see how their decisions play out.

Why this approach helps

This story builds confidence and flexible thinking. By controlling the outcome and seeing how choices lead to consequences, children practice cause-and-effect reasoning in a playful, low-pressure setting. Choosing to lose (and seeing a positive story anyway) helps normalize setbacks and builds resilience. The cooperation-versus-competition tension mirrors real playground dynamics.

What to notice as a parent

Listen for whether your child gravitates toward helping others or winning at all costs—both reveal their instincts about fairness and friendship. If you use the default "Let the Race Decide", your child has an extra opportunity to see how their choices play out. You might find that your usually competitive child might actually prefer to lose the race to help others, or you might find that your child who craves fairness wants to experiment with taking a shortcut.

Personalize This Story

Make this story truly special by adding these details:

✓Who is your racer?
✓Should your character win the race?

Story Questions

Questions your child may be asked while creating this story:

How should the main character start the race?
Which path should the main character choose through the meadows?
How should the main character get past the fallen tree?
How should the main character finish?

Loved by Families

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“At first I thought it was one of those bedtime ploys to stay up later, but when the request came again first thing in the morning I realized it was just genuine excitement about Wanderly. My two kiddos - ages 7 and 8 - had a blast selecting their adventure pals (they have the cutest "pets" that go on the adventure with them) and choosing the direction of the story every step of the way. I turned up the reading level today and it was neat to see my son work through a few new words and stick with it because he was so excited about his story.”

— Taryn S

“My son couldn't put the story down!”

— Sebastian

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— Matt

“Ok, so I installed this yesterday, and I've already read 5 stories with my 4 year old. That's over an hours worth of time. Today he tried to negotiate to have me read 4 in a row... He's fully engaged, and takes his time over the choices - I think that and the funny moments in the stories are what have him hooked. He lost it when our cat (yes, you can include your pet in a story!) turned into a elephant. As a parent, it's whimsical and a welcome change from the regular books in rotation. I was initially unsure about using my phone to engage him during bedtime, but he entrallment quickly overcame that. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to others.”

— Simon

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— Shayla

“My dyslexic 4th grader struggles with reading and comprehension. She is finally excited to read using Wanderly!”

— Bill

“As an lifelong educator, I give this app an enthusiastic 5 stars+. With opportunity to choose and name characters, type of story and plot ... what could be more creative? What could be a more productive use of screen time? I love that this app was created and is carefully monitored by a Mom of young kids. She also happens to have technical/AI chops ... she was a Google Product Manager in their Education Products sector. The graphics are quite lovely, the story lines are fun and age-appropriate.”

— Helen

“I'm very impressed with the ease with which I was able to write a fun (and colorful) story. I wrote one for my grandchild and can't wait to share it with her.”

— Bill

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