I SPY A FREIGHT TRAIN

by Lucy--Ed. Micklethwait ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1996

Who has not played, as children and with children, the game of ""I spy?"" Micklethwait (I Spy a Lion, 1994, etc.) once again turns that game into an enthralling search into the heart of paintings. Her method is simple: On one page appears text, e.g., ""I spy/with my little eye/a car,"" while on the facing page is a reproduction of a painting in which onlookers must find that vehicle. The striking and unusual paintings she chooses are not usually about moving from ""here"" to ""there,"" except in the most metaphysical sense. Sometimes, as in Mel Ramos's Batmobile, the mode of transportation is obvious; in other pictures, like the rowboat in Kandinsky's Birds or the bicycle in Thiebaud's Down Eighteenth Street, it takes time to find them. A mirage-like rendering of a camel in Dali's La Table Solaire and a lapidary elephant in an Indian miniature remind readers that transportation, like art, comes in many forms. Included is a list of paintings with artists, dates, and current location noted. Like the others in Micklethwait's I Spy series, this is a book of myriad charms that engages readers on multiple levels; it's a refreshing change from Where's Waldo? and other titles of that ilk.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Greenwillow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1996

Categories: CHILDREN'S