 "4 1/2 Brilliant Piece of Americana" | 2009-02-17 |
| - Reviewed By M. Allen Greenbaum from California |
The 1953 poem by Philip Booth that serves as a series of word pictures was not originally intended for a children's book. However, broken into one and two line of 2-3 words per page(often including numbers), it works: It holds your attention, and mirrors the sights and sounds of the gigantic freight train depicted so brilliantly by Bagram Ibatoulline.
Still, there's no getting past the poetry, and that means that imagery and word sounds may predominate over an easily understood text. However, what imagery! It's muscular and choppy, dirty and noisy and industrial and chalk-through with a thoroughly American vernacular.
Youngstown steel
down to Mobile
on Rock Island track,
Ibatoulline's gouache pictures are on a grand scale, echoing the power and energy of the poem, yet he skillfully introduces a human element: Kids counting the freight cars going by, peering at each other both beneath and above opposite sides of the train, gazing and gaping at the contents; even a man with barely contained patience waiting for all 99 or more pieces of rolling thunder (including introductory engine and the concluding, chased-after caboose) to pass the old railroad crossing and head for points yonder. (Even adults may tend to wax poetic after reading this to their young audience!).
"fifty-nine, sixty,
hoppers of coke,
Anaconda copper,
hotbox smoke,
...Hiawatha,
Lackawanna,
rolling fast
and loose.
The beginning of the poem may seem little confusing, "...count the cars hauling distance through town," but that may be old railroading slang, or simply Booth's description of a railroad's work. You can read this wihtout pausing to think about the meanings and historic allusions, or adults and older readers can do some computer-aided research to track (pun intended)them down: "Frisco gondola," "Eric and Wabash," "Seaboard,"
"Phoebe Snow," "B&O..." I discovered, for example, that Phoebe Snow was a name used in advertising years ago, young singer Phoebe Laub adopted the name much later.
You prpbably know the kind of adult who buys a train set for his kids, but plays with it more than they do. THAT adult is gonna love this book. Your kids might also, if they're not old enough to want to learn the nuts and bolts of railroads and trains, and young enough to eat up the big, dramatic pictures, and the sound of your voice evoking, as Philip Booth does, the sights and sounds of an American masterpiece. |
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 "My son loves The Crossing!!" | 2007-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By J. Hayden from St. Joseph, MI USA |
| I purchased this book for my 5 year old son who LOVES trains. He enjoyed this book so much when he borrowed it from the library, that I just had to buy it for him. The illustrations are so life-like and the rhyming of the words made it easy for him to memorize in no time at all. It is his favorite bedtime story. For any child that love trains, this book is a must have!! |
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| "A visual treat for adults and kids" | 2006-10-02 |
| - Reviewed By Flapjack Molly from St. Louis, MO USA |
| My two year old son is already a train junkie. He pulled this one at random off the shelf at our local library; we read it every night before bed. Sometimes we read the text, sometimes we just describe what is going on in the pictures. The text is a pleasant rhyme about the different kinds of cars on a long freight train (B&O box car, Frisco gondola, Pennsey tanker, etc), counting the cars as they go past the railroad crossing. It is the truly breathtaking artwork that makes this book a keeper--each page a different viewpoint of the railroad crossing scene, with the steam engine, a kid dragging his toy truck, a dog sleeping in the car window, different kinds of freight cars, a group of kids making faces at each other across the track... |
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| "Amazing illustrations!" | 2006-08-06 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| I was so sad to see someone describe this book as "boring"! The incredible illustrations spark the imagination. My son loves the boys who can suddenly see each other over the short gondola car, the page where the children bend down and wave to each other under the train, the woman who makes the "ohmygoodness" face at the cow leaning out of the cattle car...we love this book because there is something to talk about on every page. It's our favorite bedtime story. |
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| "My son still loves this book - after 3 years!" | 2006-03-13 |
| - Reviewed By lisawaddell |
| My son first got this book from the library when he was 4 years old and he is now 7. He loves trains, crossings in particular, and the illustrations in this book are phenomenal. A good book for anyone who loves trains. |
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| "Fabulous illustrations..." | 2005-12-29 |
| - Reviewed By Kellie from Sulphur, LA USA |
| My 4 year old son and I stumbled across this book in the library and I immediately knew we had to have our own copy. The poem that constitutes the text of this book is simple and timeless. The illustrations are breathtaking. Each painting depicts the same train at the crossing, the various townspeople waiting at the crossing and the contents of the freight cars. My son loves inventing 'conversations' between the people waiting for the train to pass. A lovely book that is a nice addition to any child's library. |
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