THE TRAIN THEY CALL THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS

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THE TRAIN THEY CALL THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS

Name: THE TRAIN THEY CALL THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
Author: Steve Goodman
ISBN: 0-399-23853-0

by Steve Goodman & illustrated by Michael McCurdy ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2003

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Goodman’s Grammy-winning country-music song is resurrected with illustrations rendered in scratchboard and watercolor. McCurdy’s framed and full-bleed spreads add to the folkloric appeal. The people who ride and work on the train and the gritty landscapes outside its windows are intricately etched, with earthy, overlaid color enlivening the black-and-white images. The lyrics (“Deal card games with the old men in the club car / Penny a point, ain’t no keeping score. / Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle / Feel the wheels grumbling ’neath the floor”) aren’t really for youngsters—especially train-obsessed little ones—but music fans, railroad buffs, and folk-art aficionados will appreciate McCurdy’s memorable treatment. An opening map marks the train’s 17 stops between Chicago and New Orleans. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)

Pub Date: June 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-399-23853-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

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TINY LITTLE ROCKET

by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2018

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.

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This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.

Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 31, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LIONHEART
by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge

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DINOTRUX

From the Dinotrux series

by Chris Gall and illustrated by Chris Gall ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2009

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The tough working trucks in Kate and Jim McMullan’s I Stink! (2002) and sequels look like lightweights next to their brawny prehistoric antecedents in Gall’s rousing, grimy full-bleed spreads. Crushing rocks and trees, flattening smaller creatures and sending diminutive cave people fleeing in pop-eyed panic, a round dozen metal behemoths roll by, from towering Craneosaurus—“CRACK, MUNCH. / Look out birds, it’s time for lunch!”—and the grossly incontinent Blacktopodon to a stampede of heavily armored Semisaurs and the “bully of the jungle,” toothy Tyrannosaurus Trux. Why aren’t these motorized monsters with us today? They are, though in the wake of a mighty storm that left most mired in the mud to rust, the survivors went South and, as a climactic foldout reveals, evolved into the more beneficent vehicles we know and love. Dinotrux ruled their world, and now they’re likely to rule this one too. Bellow on! (Picture book. 5-9)