All Aboard! [Hardcover]

James Stevenson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

When Hubie and his family board the Broadway Blazer in 1939 on their way to the World's Fair, a series of unexpected mishaps leads Hubie off the train and on a wild adventure, until he finally parachutes down to his family at the fair. "Highly recommended."--Booklist.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3?Readers will happily climb aboard for this rousing adventure story. It's 1939, and Hubie is on his way to the New York World's Fair with his parents and bossy older brother when he accidentally gets on the wrong train and finds himself on the California Comet headed for Los Angeles. Unperturbed, the young mouse befriends the conductor and enjoys the dining and sleeping cars until a false step on the observation deck lands him on a railroad trestle overlooking a deep river, with the train receding in the distance. Unfazed, Hubie hitches rides on a railroad handcar, a freight train, and finally the airplane piloted by Miss Betty Beagle, "the famous aviatrix," who lands him spectacularly back with his parents at the fair. Stevenson uses pen and wash so economically that, with a few strokes, readers see the glorious architecture of the train station, the heat of the desert, and the bustle of the fair. His strip-cartoon style is perfectly suited to this riotous tall tale, which will be welcomed by fans of Mark Taylor's Henry the Explorer (Atheneum, 1976; o.p.) Edward Ardizzone's Tim All Alone (Oxford, 1990), and Stevenson's "Grandpa" (Greenwillow) tales.?Caroline Parr, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg,
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 4^-8. On their way to the 1939 World's Fair, Hubie's family boards a sleeping car on the Broadway Blazer, and the

train departs for New York. Before long, though, Hubie gets off at a station, climbs onto another train by mistake, and finds himself on the westbound California Comet. After several adventures and reversals of fortune, the intrepid young mouse hitches a cross-country flight with a famous aviatrix and parachutes down to the World's Fair, into the arms of his parents. To capture the romance and adventure that train travel holds for children, this entertaining picture book follows the cartoon format of the earlier volumes about Hubie and his brother, The Sea View Hotel (1978) and The Stowaway (1990). The line-and-watercolor artwork has an informal look, yet Stevenson can express emotion with the angle of a mouse's foot. Highly recommended, especially considering how many young children ask for stories about trains and how few good picture books libraries have to offer them. Carolyn Phelan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688124380
• ISBN-13: 978-0688124380
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,466,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exciting and humorous adventure for train lovers!, December 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: All Aboard! (Hardcover)

My son is a train fanatic and now that he is four he can really appreciate this book. It's comic book style and repitition have also encouraged him to read parts of it (a word here and there). The book has enough depth to stimulate discussions about time, how people lived "in the old days", etc. From this starting point we have branchedout to read as many Stevenson books as the library has to offer, since they all have his wonderful sense of humor and offer a sympathetic view of the world and children.