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THE TRAIN JUMPER

Name: THE TRAIN JUMPER
Author: Don Brown
ISBN: 978-1-59643-218-7

by Don Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2007

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When the Great Depression hits, Ed “Collie” Collier’s father has died, his brother leaves home and the family has fallen apart. Collie decides to bring Little Bill home, joining the ranks of hobos jumping trains in search of something better. Encountering racists, thieves, dust storms and railroad bulls and meeting such colorful characters as Scarecrow, Papa Bear and “Rainy” Knight, Collie finds a steadfast friend in a boy named Ike. Collie locates Little Bill at a CCC camp in Colorado, and the story turns out well, but not in the way Collie had imagined. Brisk prose, short paragraphs and plenty of dialogue will make readers feel they are riding the rails with Ike and Collie. In fact, the tale reads like an oral history. A good companion to Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust (1997) or Russell Freedman’s Children of the Great Depression (2006). (afterword) (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-59643-218-7

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Deborah Brodie/Roaring Brook

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
IT'S ABOUT TIME!
by Don Brown ; illustrated by Don Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
RUN AND HIDE
by Don Brown ; illustrated by Don Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
83 DAYS IN MARIUPOL
by Don Brown ; illustrated by Don Brown

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SUMMER OF FIRE

YELLOWSTONE 1988

by Patricia Lauber ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1991

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Grounding her narrative in outstanding color photos of plants and animals before, during, and after the awe-inspiring conflagration that burned 2,600,000 acres, Lauber gives more attention to renewal than either Vogel's The Great Yellowstone Fire or Patent's Yellowstone Fires (both 1990), postulating questions that scientists and naturalists are currently studying: ``If an area has been heavily burned, how quickly do bugs colonize it?'' ``Do large burned patches grow back at the same rate as small burned out patches?'' This strikingly beautiful book has larger and clearer photos than Patent's, while Vogel's lacks an index: Lauber is a first choice. Glossary; further reading; index. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1991

ISBN: 0-531-05943-X

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Orchard

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1991

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT BEDS, BEDROOMS, & PAJAMAS
by Patricia Lauber & illustrated by John Manders

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TRUE-OR-FALSE BOOK OF DOGS
by Patricia Lauber & illustrated by Rosalyn Schanzer

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT TUBS, TOILETS, AND SHOWERS
by Patricia Lauber & illustrated by John Manders

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A DESERT YEAR

by Carol Lerner & illustrated by Carol Lerner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 14, 1991

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A handsome introduction to desert animals and plants. On a typical two-page spread depicting summer birds, four species are shown with a page of descriptive text and a full-color drawing. Size and scale are not given; scientific names appear only in the index. Since illustrations are not captioned, the viewer is lured into some minor detective work in order to distinguish the ash-throated flycatcher from the black-throated sparrow. Other illustrations combine above- and below-ground views with inserts showing enlargements. There are interesting bits of nature lore here: the road runner has a patch of black on his back to absorb additional heat; the Texas horned lizard squirts a thin stream of blood from its eyes to irritate its predators; eggs of a Couch's spadefoot toad hatch in a single day. Still, less successful in capturing the panorama of desert life than Bash's Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus (1989). Index. (Nonfiction. 10-12)