An exuberant and heartfelt travelogue extraordinaire.
A very personal tour of New York takes readers eastside, westside, uptown and down.
Although there is a hint of homage to Miroslav Sasek’s classic This Is New York, Brown makes it fresh and new and gets it just right, with a little history, a little geography, some mind-boggling statistics and the familiar iconic sights. It’s not orderly in its approach, as New York is essentially an eclectic mix of people, sights, sounds, smells and tastes. Beginning with his very first view of the city and his determination to make it his home, he catalogs the things he loves about it. He zooms through the Broadway theater district, the top of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and more, including lesser-known places like the High Line and not forgetting the subway system. With pauses to address hunger pangs, Brown offers interesting tidbits about the vast variety of food available. He employs breezy, conversational language, speaking directly to his audience, telling them of the wonders and adventures that the city offers, inviting them to come and see it for themselves. The detailed illustrations and endpaper sketches are rendered in layers of watercolors and gouache that glow brightly with joy and vitality and demand to be viewed over and over, always to find new delights.
An exuberant and heartfelt travelogue extraordinaire. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: March 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-375-86454-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Absolutely wonderful in every way.
A long-forgotten chapter in New York City history is brilliantly illuminated.
In mid-19th-century New York, horses and horse-drawn vehicles were the only means of transportation, and the din created by wheels as they rumbled on the cobblestones was deafening. The congestion at intersections threatened the lives of drivers and pedestrians alike. Many solutions were bandied about, but nothing was ever done. Enter Alfred Ely Beach, an admirer of “newfangled notions.” Working in secret, he created an underground train powered by an enormous fan in a pneumatic tube. He built a tunnel lined with brick and concrete and a sumptuously decorated waiting room for passenger comfort. It brought a curious public rushing to use it and became a great though short-lived success, ending when the corrupt politician Boss Tweed used his influence to kill the whole project. Here is science, history, suspense, secrecy, and skulduggery in action. Corey’s narrative is brisk, chatty, and highly descriptive, vividly presenting all the salient facts and making the events accessible and fascinating to modern readers. The incredibly inventive multimedia illustrations match the text perfectly and add detail, dimension, and pizazz. Located on the inside of the book jacket is a step-by-step guide to the creative process behind these remarkable illustrations.
Absolutely wonderful in every way. (author’s note, bibliography, Web resources) (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-375-87071-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Nothing short of spectacular, just like the journey it describes.
Floca took readers to the moon with the Apollo 11 mission in Moonshot (2009); now he takes them across the country on an equally historic journey of 100 years earlier.
In a collegial direct address, he invites readers to join a family—mother, daughter and son—on one of the first passenger trips from Omaha to Sacramento after the meeting of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific in May 1869. With encyclopedic enthusiasm, Floca visually documents the trip, vignettes illustrating the train’s equipment as well as such must-know details as toilet and sleeping conditions. Full- and double-page spreads take advantage of the book’s unusually large trim for breathtaking long shots of the American landscape and thrilling perspectives of the muscular engine itself. The nameless girl and boy provide touchstones for readers throughout, dubiously eyeing an unidentifiable dinner, juddering across a trestle, staring out with wide-eyed wonder. Unjustly undersung as a writer, Floca soars with his free-verse narrative, exploiting alliteration, assonance and internal rhyme to reinforce the rhythms of the journey. Frequent variations in font and type (“HUFF HUFF HUFF!” is spelled out in ornate, antique letters) further boost the excitement. Front endpapers provide detail on the building of the transcontinental railroad; back endpapers show the steam engine in cross section, explaining exactly how coal and water made it go.
Nothing short of spectacular, just like the journey it describes. (Informational picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9415-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
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