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Loss is a natural part of life. Nearly all of us have experienced it, losing a pet, a loved one, a favourite piece of antique china, mental sanity. As adults, we are equipped with strategies and understanding enough to assist us to the next station in life, to get over it. However, when a child […]

A fat cat thin or a thin cat fat?  When Alleycat was young he was thin, but suddenly one day he became enormously fat, like a bear getting ready to hibernate, or like a cat leviathan.  But there was method and purpose behind his bulking-up.  He was building his physical power in the knowledge that soon he’d be poisoned (and he was) but he got himself through his ordeal and burned off the poison by burning away his fat.  He came near the Door of Death, and he saw through it, and who knows what arcane knowledge he glimpsed out of the edge of his cat’s eyes in those days when the prison was attacking him. But now the poison’s gone and he’s as thin and fit as he was when he was young, and as for me I’m a little bit fatter than I’d like to be, so Alleycat and I have started running together.  We jog together along the disused railway line near my house, and sometimes we stop and listen for the ghostly whistling of the old-time trains.  By the way, it’s Alleycat in both of the photos, fat and young at the top, old and thin at the side.

We uncovered lots of fascinating pieces of Disney history while working on Ward Kimball’s biography—you know, the one that the Disney Company’s lawyers won’t allow you to see. Among the discoveries were film reels of Ward’s home movies, which I can report are a fair deal more interesting than the average person’s home movies.

We transferred those reels, and with permission, I’m sharing a rarely seen piece of movie footage shot by Ward. Tomorrow, it will be exactly 65 years since this film was recorded (April 4, 1948). In it, Ward and Walt Disney visit the home of Dick Jackson, a wealthy businessman who operated a scale-railroad in the backyard of his Beverly Hills home.

Kimball had been a close friend of Jackson’s for years, and often dropped by for steamups. A little over six years earlier—December 7, 1941, to be exact—as he was driving to Jackson’s for a steamup, he heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. The news unsettled him momentarily, but he “forgot it all with Jackson’s locomotive,” he wrote in his journal. Backyard railroading had the magical effect of allowing people to put the real world on pause, even if only for a few hours at a time.

In spring 1948, Ward had become aware of Disney’s budding interest in scale-model trains, and he invited Walt to come along to Jackson’s place for an afternoon of scale railroading. This is, I believe, the first time that Walt had ever personally operated scale-trains. Walt was hooked after the visit, and soon after he began constructing his own luxe backyard railroad, the Carolwood Pacific.

Kimball’s unusually close relationship with Disney allowed him to capture these unguarded moments of his mercurial boss. Disney appears to be enjoying every hunched-over second of the railroading experience, and he takes the time to acknowledge Ward’s camera on multiple occasions. Ward wrote about the day’s events in his private journal:

Sunday, April 4, 1948
Up with bright sun. Kids helped me put nitrogen around orange trees. If they didn’t, no Jackson train ride. Damp grass. At 12:45 left for Jacksons in Beverly Hills. 1st over there. He started the Colorado Central. Steam up at 2:00. Walt Disney arrived soon after. Got a big kick out of it all. We showed him the works. He couldn’t quite believe that it was all scale! He tried it out—got scared when drivers spin. “What the hell was that!” he’d ask me. He had lots of fun. We all took movies and Jackson took stills. Showed Walt Jackson’s shop. Kids rode and played “Train Robbers.” Home at 5:30. Broiled corn beef over fire place.

The original film is silent so I added some music—of course, Kimball’s band The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Below are identifications of the people in the film, including Ward’s wife Betty and their three children:

4 Stars Chasing Watermelons Kevin White Rex White 32 Pages     Ages: 3 to 6 ……………… Press Release: When Duck opens a crate of watermelons for a watermelon feast, they begin to roll. Duck chases after them. One by one, Duck invites Goat, Pig, Chicken, and Cow to join the chase by promising, “If you help, [...]

5 Stars Scrooge: A Christmas Carol & A Remembrance of Mugby Charles Dickens Papercutz 96 Pages   Ages: 8 and up   Scrooge is actually two books in one. In addition to the traditional Dickens classic  A Christmas Carol there is also another Charles Dickens classic, A Remembrance of Mugby. Chances are good you have not [...]

Choo-Choo by Virginia Lee Burton. (She’s one of Huck’s favorite author/illustrators, going by how often he requests her books.)

Freight Train by Donald Crews. (You may detect a theme.)

Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. (Chapter 1, to Rilla. I remember riding my bike to three different library branches in search of this book—not all on the same day—because I’d read it and loved it so, and couldn’t remember the author’s name later, only that it began with B. Today it would take my mom ten seconds on the library website to locate a copy. Back then it meant a bona fide, muscle-burning quest, and all in vain. I couldn’t find it. Years later, when I took a job at HarperCollins, I discovered that it was a Harper book, still in print. And yet somehow I didn’t reread it. This go-round with Rilla will be my first time in decades. I’m eager to see if it holds up to the glowing memories I have of that first reading so long ago. Minikin, nicknamed Minx! I got goosebumps. It’s out of print again, I see: pity.)

Speaking of Little Witches, it’s time to put another round of Dorrie books on hold at the library. One, two, three, ten…there, I’m done, no bicycle required.

Karen Edmisten made my day with a delightful account of a Prairie Thief luncheon held by her daughter’s book club. Potato chowder, dried berry scones, a bucket of hazelnuts (brilliant!), and brownies, of course. They even brewed some horseradish tea, which demonstrates an impressive degree of commitment. Thanks, Karen, for that wonderful post.

This morning we discovered that the passionflower vine I planted ages ago had snaked its way halfway across the butterfly garden. We untangled the wandering tendrils and tied them up along the back fence. I have every suspicion that it is out there right now, busily untying itself, and I’ll find it embracing the hibiscus bush tomorrow.

By Nina Schuyler, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 9, 2012

What is it about boys and wheels? Yes, I’m making a gross generalization and relying far too heavily on anecdotal evidence, but I don’t see our neighbors with daughters outside at 6:30 am on Garbage Day, watching the parade of garbage trucks go by. All to the delight and squeals of my 14 month old son, a son who bolts up in bed when he hears the first rumble of the trucks. A son whose bedroom rug is decorated with things that go– airplanes, fire trucks, cars, trains, and helicopters—and it is the wheel, that black round object, to which he points and drools.

In honor of boys and things that go, here are a handful of new books that celebrate the wheel.

Picture Books

Trains Go

By Steve Light

Steve Light, the author and illustrator of Trains Go knows the allure of trains. It’s not just the rattle and clang or the choo choo or whoosh, it’s the length. How the train just keeps going by, car after car, as if it will never end. Light uses watercolor and black ink and beautifully illustrates trains –freight and diesel and speed and more. When you open the page, the train stretches to two feet. That’s a lot of train!

Ages 1-5 | Publisher: Chronicle Books | January 25, 2012

Train Man

By Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

In Train Man, by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha, we enter the realm of a boy’s imagination as he considers what he’ll be when he grows up. A train man, without a doubt, with a train man hat and overalls. As the story progresses, his toy train turns into a big engine and he is at the helm, traveling up the mountain and back down again, then finally into his room with his track and miniature trains.

Ages 2-5 | Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.| March 13, 2012

Machines Go to Work in the City

By William Low

Since I received this book a couple weeks ago, my son has picked it up probably fifty times. (You’ll see why in a second). William Low’s Machines Go to Work in the City opens with a garbage truck. “Vroooom! Here comes the garbage truck, making its run! When the truck makes its last pickup, are the garbage collectors done for the day?” The page on the left folds out or up or down to give you the answer: “No, they must go to the landfill to empty the trash.” (And then I launch into a discussion of how we want to try to recycle because look at that yucky landfill. Never too early to start, I suppose). That’s the pattern of the book as it moves through commuter trains, vacuum trucks, tower cranes and airplanes. After the umpteenth reading, my son now says very clearly and distinctly the word, “No.”

Ages 2-6 | Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.| June 5, 2012

Everything Goes On Land 

By Brian Biggs

Everything Goes On Land by Brian Biggs illustrates the entire page, using lots of color and capturing the sense of a city with its busyness and packed streets. We move through the city with a little boy and his father, who is driving. They see cars, trucks, RVs, bikes, buses, motorcycles, subway and trains. The book is interspersed with detailed explanations about particular vehicles. We even get to learn about how an electric car works. Biggs has a wonderful sense of the silly, letting the dogs and birds talk. He’s also built in a sort of I Spy game with birds wearing hats and random things that just don’t belong.

Ages 4-8 | Publisher: HarperCollins | September 13, 2011

A Chapter Book

Stealing Air

By Trent Reedy

Trent Reedy in Stealing Air has a keen sense of what might appeal to a young boy– not only things that go, but boys who build rocket bikes and real airplanes in secret sheds.( Yes, a bike that with a flip of a switch zooms down the road.) Brian, a newcomer to Iowa, makes friends with Max, who shares with him his secret—in a hidden shed, he’s building a real airplane that looks like a flying motorcycle. But Max is afraid of heights so he solicits help from Brian and Alex, the popular kid from school, to serve as pilot and co-pilot.  If the plane is ever to get off the ground, the boys have to overcome fights at home, at school, and a bully named Frankie.

Ages 8-12 | Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. | October 1, 2012

Nina Schuyler’s first novel, “The Painting,” was nominated for the Northern California Book Award and was named a ‘Best Book’ by the San Francisco Chronicle. Her next novel, “The Translator,” will be published by Pegasus Books in New York, Spring, 2013. She is the fiction editor for www.ablemuse.com and teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco. 

Original article: Kids Car Books & Things That Go: Airplanes, Fire Trucks, & Trains. Oh, My!

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells.  Candlewick, 2010.

On the Blue Comet was a pure joy to read.  My childhood memory of pressing my cheek against the train board to gain a eye/ground level view of the trains was echoed in this story.   The story's main character, eleven year old, Oscar Ogilvie is a kindred spirit as he performs the same ritual. We both were trying to imagine ourselves into the small world of the trains.

When I was a child, we had a model train set up.  We did not have a basement but my father designed a over-sized folding platform for our HO model trains which included a train we had actually ridden on, the Santa Fe Railway Super Chief.

Wells sets her story during Great Depression. Oscar and his father share a love of model trains and they have an elaborate set up in the basement of their house.  Each year they add to their collection but the hard economic times have put a stop to that.  In fact, things are so bad that they must sell the train set to the local bank manager who uses the trains as a display in the bank lobby.  Oscar's father leaves to look for work in California, promising to send for Oscar when he finds some.  The kindly night watchman at the bank allows Oscar to visit and run the trains after the bank closes.  One night the lobby is invaded by bank robbers and Oscar escapes into time and an unlikely landscape.

This story mixes history, time travel, and fantasy along with cameo appearances by some famous people in history.  A great deal of the reading fun was identifying the people Oscar comes in contact with. 

Bagram Ibatoulline has contributed glowing paintings that have been meticulously researched.  Period fashion and architecture are reflected in illustrations which allow the reader to reach back in time too.

The book reminds me of how much model trains added to our childhoods. We learned -- hands-on --about electricity, direct current, transformers as well as trouble-shooting, patience and craftsmanship. 

5 Stars “Mr. John Slack, the keeper of the tavern beside a rutted dirt road in the early 1800s, thought things were just fine the way they were.  So did Lucious Stockyon, who ran the National Road Stage Company in the mid-1800s.  So too, the owners of the railroads when the first Model-T appeared in [...]

My calendar's packed. I just returned from a trip. I'm in the midst of a class. I'm presenting at a forum this week. But wait, four great new picture books are sitting on my table waiting to be reviewed!

What to do? Do it Twitter-style! Here they are in 140 characters or less:

• Willy. De Kockere. 2011. Erdman. Celebrating the peculiarities that make Willy the elephant special. Monty Python-esque art, a perfect foil to a quirky tale. Love it!

• Train Trip. Caswell. 2011.Hyperion. Cheerful and rhyming, a boy and a train bond during a trip. “Special treat. “Come on in!” “Sound the whistle?” Eager grin."

• Little Owl’s Night. Srinivasan. 2011. Viking. An owl observes the night’s activities. Dark colors, cheery wide-eyed creatures. Simple and serene.

• Shaggy Dogs, Waggy Dogs. Patricia Hubbell. 2011. Marshall Cavendish. Happy, rhyming, romping dogs. Dogs, dogs and more dogs! A storytime gem.

©Copyright Carll Cneut

It seems like I am always writing about books set in New York City! That is not intentional, but there certainly are an abundance of them.

I'm quite surprised I have never come across Where Are You, Little Zack?before. Co-written by Judith Ross Engerle and Stephanie Gordon Tessler, Where Are You, Little Zack? is a classic tale of "lost in the city." The authors have added in a fun counting exercise, so while 3 ducks, Brick and Brack and Thackery Quack search for their brother, they are joined by 4 busy commuters, 5 taxi drivers... you get the idea. They are also joined by 80,000 Yankee fans, but don't worry, you don't have to count that high. Of course, the brothers are united in the end (after traveling on the number 9 train on the number 10 track) and all is well.

Around here, we are big fans of Brian Floca's illustrations, but I think it's interesting he does not list this book on his website. True, it's not as spectacular as his more recent books, such as Moonshot and  Ballet for Martha, but his artwork is still appealing. Even while the duck brothers are still searching, little eyes can locate Little Zack playing among the many landmarks of the city. The search also takes the reader to locations high and low, wet and dry, crowded and sparse, and fast and slow around New York. The reader will certainly understand that the city is a varied and interesting place!

This book is lots of fun, and judging by the lack of reviews on Amazon, I'm guessing it's not well-known, which I find surprising. I think it would be a lov

Since I started this blog project I have become intrigued by the many different ways the city can figure in a picture book. The city is not always the star of the show, sometimes it remains quiet, in the background. Yet it is always there, creating an aura of adventure.

Amy Hest's The Purple Coat, is not about the city. Gabrielle wants, this year, to have a purple coat, not a navy blue one like she has always had. The book is a charming story of how Gabrielle and her grandfather come up with a new idea for her coat and how they convince her mother to compromise on the new color.

What interested me most about the book is the role the city plays. Every fall, Gabrielle and her mother take two trains, arriving through busy Penn Station in New York City where Gabrielle's grandfather is a tailor "on the twenty-eighth floor in a fancy office building that is even taller than that. " By the time the pair reach the tailor's shop in an elevator that is "too fast and too crowded" the city has retreated into the background. The rest of the action may take place in the quiet seclusion of grandfather's shop, but the city is still there. Illustrator Amy Schwartz has wisely included frequent glimpses of the city out the the windows. One of my favorite moments in the book is when the grandfather, contemplating Gabrielle's request for a purple coat, stands looking out the window at the city. It's as if the city, with all of its infinite variety of people and places provides the perfect reminder that one need not always have the same blue coat every year.

The beginning of this book reminded me of how exciting I found trips to the city when I was young (in my case it was San Francisco).  The excitement of heading off to the city and the strangeness of the crowds must have added to Gabrielle's nervousness of asking for a purple coat.

The big city and a new purple coat: it's what every girl dreams of.

Want More?
Read A New Coat for Anna, a very different story set in a post-WWII European city (Berlin?). Someone (not me) should write a comparison of the two books.
Visit Amy Hest's website.
Read an interview with Amy Schwartz at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Big Kid says: They had to take two trains to get to Penn Station? I wonder what train they took to the shop. That sign says the 1, 2 and 3. [You  can see where his interest lies... not with purple coats.]

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mouseprints said, on 3/28/2011 11:55:00 AM

I love your write-up. We'll put it on our library queue.

Raising a Happy Child said, on 3/28/2011 12:34:00 PM

Very interesting! I am looking forward to our upcoming trip to San Francisco now :)

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By: Storied Cities, on 3/22/2011
Blog: Storied Cities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Picture Book, Poetry, New York City, Traffic, Trains, Pre-K, 3 and under, Add a tag

Starting in the morning when everyone wakes up, yawning and ending at night, when "moms and dads are home at last," Christine Loomis' Rush Hour is a rhythmic, rhyming whirlwind tour of the adventure that is every city commuter's day.

Little Kid is so obsessed with this book, he can "read" it page by page to himself. I'm not surprised. Loomis' uses words guaranteed to give any toddler and preschooler a heady buzz: "Whizzing, zipping, clickety clack, rumbling, roaring, jiggling, jumping, left turn, right turn, backing, bumping."

Mari Takabayashi's illustrations are busy, busy, busy, reflecting the crowds and bustle of the city. What I like best is the immense variety of experiences she illustrates. For example, when "people have begun their jobs,"  she doesn't stop at the standard police officer, teacher and business person -- there are more than 20 careers pictured. There are small details one might not normally think about: a man retrieves his mail from a row of apartment post boxes, a kitchen lacks adequate counter space, in the middle of the day, subway platforms are much emptier. It's the kind of city life detail I enjoy seeing in urban picture books.

Even though the city depicted is New York, none of the text is specific to NYC. I almost wish that the pictures were more city-generic, but of course my boys like to recognize the buses and trains they see everyday.

If your kid loves things with wheels, this book is sure to be a hit. But you might have to read it 12 dozen times.

Fair warning.


Want more?
Visit the illustrator's website.
Watch this you tube video of a crowded subway in Japan. Can you imagine if we had these white gloved "helpers" in NYC!

Little Kid says: Rush Hour, please!

2 Comments on Commuter City: Rush Hour, last added: 3/23/2011

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MaryAnne said, on 3/22/2011 1:44:00 PM

I think this book would be very popular in our house! I'll have to see if our library has a copy!

Raising a Happy Child said, on 3/22/2011 4:36:00 PM

Illustrations look really fun in this book!

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By: Storied Cities, on 3/18/2011
Blog: Storied Cities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Picture Book, New York City, Artists, Trains, K-3, K-5, Add a tag

If you have ever ridden the NYC Subway you know that some of the stations have some fantastic artwork. I'm a bit sad that my local station is on the boring side. It would be so great to get on the train everyday if the platform looked like this.

In Amy Hest's Jamaica Louise James, the title character also takes the train from a boring platform. In fact her Grammy is the ticket agent. While Jamaica Lousie James (can I call her JLJ for short?) does like the hot pink subway seats, she decries the grouchy grownups and the boring tiled walls. JLJ takes matters into her own hands and creates artwork for the station as a surprise for her Grammy. It perks up both the boring tiles and sullen commuter faces.

There are nice little references to the city scattered throughout the text. For example, JLJ sits "on the top step of our building, where everyone can see her," and she cuddles with her family at night, while "the city quiets down." Many of Sheila White Samton's color-saturated illustrations are interiors (home and subway), but there are a few nice simultaneous views of above and below ground. I especially like one nighttime illustration of JLJ high in her apartment building watching her Grammy descend the subway stairs.

Would that we could all have train stations as cheerful as Jamaica Louise James'.

Want more?
See some of the great platform art of NYC's MTA
Visit the author's website.

Big Kid says: Hey! We have this book in our art classroom!

2 Comments on Artistic City: Jamaica Louise James, last added: 3/19/2011

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Raising a Happy Child said, on 3/18/2011 1:58:00 PM

I wonder if JLJ could be potentially arrested as a graffiti artist. Interestingly, we read some books by Amy Hest, but I've never heard of this one.

Lindsay N. Currie said, on 3/19/2011 6:29:00 PM

Ah, you always find some of the most interesting looking books.

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By: shelf-employed, on 12/13/2010
Blog: Shelf-employed (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  book review, nonfiction, series, trains, Non-Fiction Monday, transportation, E, Add a tag

As I’ve mentioned before, barely a week passes without a preschool teacher stopping in to find age-appropriate books for the week’s curriculum. Well, here’s another series that preschool teachers and kids will be sure to love.

All Aboard! By PowerKids Press is a new series of six books featuring trains, Monorails, Passenger Trains, Steam-Powered Trains, Streetcars, Subways and Freight Trains.

Ryan, Phillip. 2011. Freight Trains. New York: PowerKids Press.

Like all the books in this series, this one is approximately 8 inches square and a mere 24 pages. Short and simple, each double spread contains a full or double-page photo and a sentence or two in a large simple font on a white background. Freight trains have a job to do. This one carries coal. The bottom of each page is bordered with lines similar to train tracks. Page numbers are also accompanied by a track icon, disappearing into the distance.

Perfect for little train enthusiasts and preschool or K-2 teachers.

The last page contains “Words to Know,” an “Index” (only 4 entries!) and a website address.

Today is Nonfiction Monday again! (the weeks go by so quickly!) Today’s roundup is at Books Together. Check it out.

0 Comments on All Aboard! as of 1/1/1900

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19. Diverse City: Subway Sparrow

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By: Storied Cities, on 12/8/2010
Blog: Storied Cities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Animals, New York City, Trains, Pre-K, K-3, Picture Book, Diversity, Add a tag

Mom says:
Subway Sparrow by Leyla Torres is a book to read before getting on the train. On the D train several passengers work together in order to rescue a bird trapped in a subway car. What makes this book special is that the passengers demonstrate our innate cooperative spirit and compassionate nature despite differences in age, gender and ethnicity. The text is written in English, Spanish and Polish but that does not inhibit our understanding of the story or the characters' understanding of each other. I love that my son is growing up in arguably the most culturally diverse city in the world, and this book is a nice testament to the positive effects of cross-cultural communication.

Plus, it has the D train.

Big Kid says:  The D train!!!!
Little Kid says: D!!

4 Comments on Diverse City: Subway Sparrow, last added: 12/11/2010

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Christy said, on 12/8/2010 5:25:00 AM

That sounds like a good book!

We have been reading the Auntie Claus books and they make me think of you because they are set in NYC!

Raising a Happy Child said, on 12/8/2010 6:57:00 AM

I took the D train so many times - thanks for the memories :)

Susan T. said, on 12/11/2010 3:06:00 PM

Oooh, this sounds good. Have you read The True Story of Stellina, by Matteo Pericoli (Knopf, 2006)? A good NYC bird story.

Storied Cities said, on 12/11/2010 5:40:00 PM

No, I haven't read that, I will look it up. Thanks for the tip.

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20. Slacker

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By: Cate Gardner, on 11/28/2010
Blog: The Poisoned Apple (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Trains, Tim Burton, Dehydrated Human Heart, Sweeny Todd, Add a tag

So if we consider the figures, I appear to be a slacker this weekend. No work on the NaNoWriMo novel. Early last week, I considered trying to hit 60,000 words by the 30th, but my conscience urged me to take the weekend off and finish up and edit a short story with a December 1st deadline. And I just did. I can't add any words to my official word count as I spent today in third draft territory and then line editing, but Dehydrated Human Heart is on its way to...Rejectionville. Hey, best to be prepared.

In other news, froze my butt off at a railway station this morning. After overnight babysitting duty for my niece and nephew and waking up to minus 4 degrees (brr! Still chipping the ice off my eyeballs), the train to Liverpool was cancelled and then the next was cancelled, and they only run every half hour. So, it was a trip across the road to the taxi station and an expensive journey home. I do love British transport.

In worse news, I fell asleep during the last fifteen minutes of Sweeny Todd. I hang my Tim Burton loving head in shame.

9 Comments on Slacker, last added: 12/1/2010

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Aaron Polson said, on 11/28/2010 12:36:00 PM

Slacker nothing. You won, Cate. Whoot!

Danielle Ferries said, on 11/28/2010 5:04:00 PM

Congrats Winner!!!

I fell asleep during Hellraiser last night, so will hang my head in shame alongside you. I have seen it many times before though, so I don't know if that counts for anything :)

K.C. Shaw said, on 11/28/2010 5:05:00 PM

Slacker? You mean crossing the finish line isn't ENOUGH? I'm dooooomed!

Congrats on finishing the short story too!

Natalie L. Sin said, on 11/28/2010 8:47:00 PM

One word: Japan. The trains arrive on time, and there's plenty of eye candy while you wait!

Barry Napier said, on 11/29/2010 5:46:00 AM

meh, i didn't get into Sweeny Todd.

And that is not slacking..my weekend was slacking...i believe i now have pie and stuffing in my veins...

Cate Gardner said, on 11/29/2010 9:29:00 AM

I did, I did, Aaron

Danielle, you're NaNo score is unbelievable. You seriously rock.

I can feel myself slipping back into my slacker ways, Kate. Gulp!

I wish, Natalie.

You're lucky I've left my knife and fork downstairs (and that you're on the otherside of the world, Barry). I am hungry. :D

Katey said, on 11/29/2010 10:46:00 AM

Sweeney Todd makes me happy--but I have Stephen Sondheim love like crazy, PLUS Tim Burton love. It's painful.

You are not a slacker. My entire country was full of slackers this weekend. YOU, on the other hand, won Nano!

Cate Gardner said, on 11/29/2010 10:54:00 AM

I was so jealous of your Thanksgiving holiday. We Brits copy everything else America does, I don't see why we can't steal your holiday too.

abrokenlaptop.com said, on 11/30/2010 11:42:00 PM

I love Tim Burton and I've loved Sweeney Todd for years, but I didn't like Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. I know. It confuses me, as well.

-Mercedes

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21. NonFiction Monday: KidsCan Press

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By: Camille, on 11/21/2010
Blog: Book Moot (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Nonfiction Monday, trains, rain forest, Add a tag

Dewey  385

Ultimate Trains written by Peter McMahon, illustrated by Andy Mora. KidsCan Press, 2010 (review copy from publisher)

Peter McMahon sees trains as an important part to be part of transportation's future.  Touting them as a greener alternative to airplanes and cars he tracing the history of trains from their horse drawn days, through steam engines, diesel and on to magnetic levitation designs.   The quest for power and speed is reviewed, accompanied by clean-line illustrations and diagrams by Andy Mora.  

Hands-on experiments to illustrate the concepts in the book include, "Steam Engine in a Salad Bowl," "Riding the Rails," "Make your Own Electromagnet," and "Making a Maglev Test Track." There are templates of tracks and trains to photocopy (please, don't cut up the library book.) All the experiments are very do-able  with parental help to acquire wires, copper tubing, nails, batteries and other sundry supplies.  The final project, "Make a Working Maglev Model" requires lumber and Lexan (polycarbonate) which is more challenging. Detailed plans and photos of the projects are available on the KidsCanpress website. 

This is the first book in  a Machines of the Future series.

Dewey:  578.734

Looking Closely in the Rain Forest by Frank Serafini.  KidsCan Press, 2010  0 Comments on NonFiction Monday: KidsCan Press as of 1/1/1900

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22. Rave Review: The Last Train

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By: Kara Schaff Dean, on 10/7/2010
Blog: Not Just for Kids (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  review, picture book, trains, Wendell Minor, Add a tag

In the interest of full disclosure, I need to make a confession: I am a former railway conductor. I worked for Midland Mainline, a railway operating company in England, for four years, working my way up from trolley dolly to guard. There was a time when I knew every bump in the line from Sheffield to London. Whenever I stand on a station platform, and watch a train leave, I am sorry for the

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23. All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine

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By: shelf-employed, on 10/4/2010
Blog: Shelf-employed (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  trains, inventions, Non-Fiction Monday, picture books for older readers, Underground Railroad, bio, inventors, E, African Americans, history, nonfiction, Add a tag

Kulling, Monica. 2010. All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine. Ill. by Bill Slavin. Ontario, CA: Tundra.

One of the things that I love about reviewing children’s nonfiction is the number of new things that I learn every day.  Today I learned a little-known, but interesting and inspirational life story, as well as an interesting tidbit of etymology, the origin of the phrase “the real McCoy.”

Get on Board!

we hear our conductor
singing low
the song she uses
to let us know
now is the time
to get on board...

the midnight train
runs underground
we hide and pray
not to be found
we risk our lives
to stay on board...

So begins All Aboard! But All Aboard! is not the story of the Underground Railroad, rather it is the culmination of the Underground Railroad's greater purpose - a self-determined, productive life, lived out in  freedom.  Elijah McCoy was the son of slaves who escaped to Canada on the Underground Railroad. His determined and hardworking parents saved enough money to send Elijah to school overseas, where he studied to become a mechanical engineer. 

He returned in 1866 to join his family in Michigan.  Though he may have been free, his opportunities were not equal.  Despite his education, he was only able to secure work as an "ashcat," feeding coal into the firebox of a steam engine for the Michigan Central Railroad,

What a letdown! Elijah knew engines inside and out.  He knew how to design them.  He knew how to build them.  He also knew the boss didn't think much of him because he was Black.  But Elijah needed work, so he took the job. 

Still, Elijah persevered in his job while his mind, trained in engineering, sought to find a solution to the miserable job of "grease monkey," the boys (including Elijah) who oiled all of a train's gears when they frequently seized up due to friction and lack of lubrication.  Trains of the time were typically stopped every half hour or so for greasing.  After several years, Elijah invented (and patented) an oil cup, which was used successfully  to keep the trains running.  Travel by train became faster, safer, and more efficient.  He continued to invent throughout his life, eventually filing 57 patents!  Others tried to copy Elijah McCoy's oil cup, but none were able to match his success. 

When engineers wanted to make sure they got the best oil cup, they asked for the real McCoy.

All Aboard! Elijah McCoy's Steam Engine is an obscure but inspiring story, made particularly poignant by the juxtaposition of his parents' Underground Railroad experience, and his own experience working for the Michigan Central Railroad.  The dialogue is invented and there are no references cited, however, the engaging story is simply told in a manner that makes complex topics like the inventive process and racism accessible to young readers.  All Aboard! is short enough that it can easily be read aloud to a classroom or storytime for older children.

 The book's pen and watercolor illustrations are colorful, and full of life and expression; the reverse side of the dust jacket doubles as poster. The cov

1 Comments on All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine, last added: 10/5/2010

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Madigan McGillicuddy said, on 10/4/2010 7:02:00 PM

It sounds like an interesting book about an interesting man. I'll have to check it out.

Thanks for participating in NonFiction Monday this week.

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24. The Last Train: Take a Trip into History

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By: Tasha Saecker, on 9/27/2010
Blog: Kids Lit (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Book Reviews, history, Picture Books, trains, Add a tag

The Last Train by Gordon Titcomb, illustrated by Wendell Minor

Based on a song by Gordon Titcomb, this book celebrates the days of the steam engines and small depots.  A modern child visits the decrepit old depot in his town, the rusty tracks that no long gleam.  He thinks about his grandfather and father and the work they did on the railroad.  He dreams of huge engines and shiny cars streaking past.  His box of memorabilia has plenty of memories stored inside of the glory days of the railroad.  Titcomb’s words are enduring as he speaks to the wondrous power of the steam locomotive and the days when they ran.  Minor’s art brings both modern days and history to life in warm colors, allowing young train enthusiasts to dream along with him about the power of steam.

Titcomb’s song and this book really celebrate the steam engine and the magic that those days still hold for modern children.   The entire book is nicely summed up in the final lines:

A blast of steam,

the whistle screamed its mournful last refrains,

Long silent, though its echo still remains.

The words are poetry, they rhyme and dance, chugging along at times, at others sleekly gliding past.  He captures the joy of the rails perfectly.

Minor’s art is celebrates the trains too.  From the engine in the darkness under a star-filled sky to the caboose disappearing as the snow blows in.  But he also celebrates a child’s relationship with trains.  His old depot is filled with details that bring it to life.  His meadows of flowers serve as a backdrop to the aging railyard.  His flattened coins remind us all of sunny days and the surprising warmth of a smashed coin after the train goes by.  In short, he shows us just why we all love trains.

A beautiful book, this is sure to be enjoyed by train lovers old and young.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from illustrator.

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25. Shark vs. Train

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By: Tasha Saecker, on 4/27/2010
Blog: Kids Lit (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Book Reviews, Picture Books, trains, competition, sharks, Add a tag

Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Two young boys dash to the toy box and dig around.  One emerges with a shark toy while the other brandishes a toy train.  So now the sides are clear, but which toy would win a battle?  Well, that all depends!  Would it be underwater or on train tracks?  Would they be eating pies or having a burping contest?  The ideas of the sorts of competitions will have readers giggling in delight as the shark wins one and then the train wins the next.  Each competition is illustrated for humor and the reasons for winning are often surprising and funny.  Get this book into the hands of children as quickly as you can!

Barton’s text is kept simple and easy.  He frames the competition and then steps back to witness who wins.  Towards the end, the competitions get wilder and neither shark nor train are comfortable.  The book ends with the two boys being called to lunch.  The illustrations are a large part of the pleasure and success of this book.  The emotions on the faces of both shark and train will have readers quickly understanding the situation.  There are small touches and asides in the illustrations that bring the story depth and added humor. 

This book is sure to be popular in any library.  Place it face out and it will disappear.  The only question is whether it is the shark or train that gets the book more attention.  Competition anyone?  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

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