Crossing (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Bagram Ibatoulline (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's one of childhood's most time-honored pursuits: counting cars while waiting at a train crossing. Celebrated poet Philip Booth has captured its appeal and unmistakable cadence with precision and wit, backed by the vibrant, nostalgic illustrations of Moscow-trained first-timer Bagram Ibatoulline.

The poem "Crossing" first appeared in Booth's 1957 debut collection, Letters from a Distant Land, so parents and grandparents might have an easier time than kids recognizing some of these freight carriers: "B&M boxcar, / boxcar again, / Frisco gondola, / eight-nine-ten, /Erie and Wabash, Seaboard, U.P., / Pennsy tankcar, twenty-two, three." But the rhythms remain the same, and even if the automobiles stopped at the crossing look like they hail from Havana, kids still won't be able to keep from counting the tankers and boxcars on this old-time steam engine.

Booth still lives in his childhood home, and he's clearly hung onto that wide-eyed perspective in his fast, loose language. Lucky for us it's been preserved and revived--and even enriched, thanks to Ibatoulline--in this sweet and well-executed adaptation. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

This pairing of Booth's nearly 50-year-old poem (originally published in Letter from a Distant Land) with the exceedingly lifelike gouache paintings of first-time illustrator Ibatoulline is right on track. The artist in style and treatment resembles a Norman Rockwell, but his more painterly approach exudes emotion. He firmly places readers at a rural rail crossing (based on a real one in Brunswick, Maine) as a freight train barrels past. Booth's lyric verse ably suggests the rhythm of the moving boxcars: "Warning whistle, bellclang,/ engine eating steam,/ engineer waving,/ a fast-freight dream." Italicized numbers interspersed throughout the poem keep track intermittently of the trains 100 cars: "fifty-nine, sixty,/ hoppers of coke,/ Anaconda copper,/ hotbox smoke." As Booth introduces a veritable railroad lexicon, Russian-born Ibatoulline treats readers to 16 different angles of the same crossing and creates a sense of the mid-20th-century community through which the train briefly passes. The opening spread presents a bird's-eye view of the railroad junction with only smoke preceding the train in the distance. A few pages later, the artist shows the iron behemoth from a child's vantage, as a boy waves up to the cheery conductor. One entire painting is the reflection of two boxcars in a waiting car's windshield. A group of friends, separated by the train and seen waving through its couplings, unite after the train departs. This slice of Americana is sure to chug full steam ahead into the hearts of train enthusiasts young and old. Ages 5-9.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763614203
• ISBN-13: 978-0763614201
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 10 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #851,873 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #24 in	Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( I ) > Ibatoulline, Bagram
  #93 in	Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Transportation > Trains > Nonfiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating illustrations, May 4, 2004

By A Customer

My two year old son is nuts for trains. This book is beautifully illustrated and the poem is a wonderful change from the usual toddler book prose. My son and I like this book so much that I have taken the time to write a review! You will be glad you added this one to your child's library.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars feel like your going on a train trip, October 17, 2001

By	linda faver (south orange, nj United States) - See all my reviews

The cover illustrations of crossings is a realistic watercolor of a huge engine in black against a dark night sky. A red and white crossings bar around the cover makes you feel like your waiting for the train to pass the whistle beckoning you to jump aboard.

The issustrations inside are beautifully orchestrated watercolors. Some pages bleed, some pages have a white frame around them, all are authentic looking old fashioned trains. Even the passenger cars waiting for the train to cross are reminiscent of a small twon a long time ago.

Each page is devoted to a different car; box car, gondola, "tank", and a freight car with a caboose bringing up the rear. Children can practice counting the cars as they pass and the rhyming words take on the rhytmic chugging of a train. Each car has a different product inside. While reading the book aloud,the reader feels himself catching the rhythm of the train.

Anyone who loves trains will find this book inviting. My class loved it at story time and I plan to leave it in the book area when we do transportation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing illustrations!, August 5, 2006

By	E. Blanchette "Mom of two" (Alabama) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.