Grandfather's Trolley [Hardcover]

Bruce McMillan (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Using hand-tinted photographs, a popular photo-illustrator takes young readers on a trip back to the early 1900s where a little girl goes for a ride in her grandfather's trolley car.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2?Children don't need to understand the masterful photographic techniques to appreciate this bit of nostalgia set in the early 1900s. Grandfather, a trolley motorman, always saves a seat in the last row for his granddaughter, who then rides to the end of the line. On the return trip, she sits up front next to him. That's the story line but, combined with the artwork, there is much, much more. Clearly evident are the love between the girl and the elderly man; the sights, sounds, and motion of the trolley; the summer breeze that blows the little girl's hair and makes her eyes squint; and the sheer delight of the day. McMillan took the photographs in black and white, brown-toned them, and hand tinted them with oil paints, replicating photographic methods used during the heyday of trolleys. As always, his work is superbly executed. For anyone who has ever ridden a trolley as a child, this is irresistible. For those too young to have had the pleasure, it is evocative of life at a slower pace.?Virginia Opocensky, formerly at Lincoln City Libraries,
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-9. From Eating Fractions (1991) to Going on a Whale Watch (1992), McMillan's photo-essays have brought wit and beauty to informational books. Here he uses specially posed photographs to tell a simple historical fiction story about a small girl who rides the trolley car that her loving grandfather drives through the woods and then back again. The illustrations use the technique of the trolley era--black-and-white photos hand-tinted with oils--and the happiness between grandparent and child is movingly portrayed, especially when Grandfather allows her to help him drive the trolley home. However, it's not easy to make out the technical details in the impressionistic pictures, which may be more appealing to nostalgic adults than to children. The notes and background information are a fascinating part of the story. McMillan's grandfather worked as a trolley car motorman at the turn of the century. The trolley in the photographs is in a Maine museum, where visitors can still ride it. Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1st edition (October 2, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564026337
• ISBN-13: 978-1564026330
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,325,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Focusing on loving relationship..., December 28, 2000

By 

christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Houston Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Grandfather's Trolley (Hardcover)

between a granddaughter and grandfather. This is a simple story of a granddaughter who takes a ride on the trolley in which her grandfather is the trolley car operator. Beautiful images of the trolley ride. These were black and white photographs which had then been toned brown and then painted over with oil paints. There is a lovely blurred soft focus look to them. The little girl enjoys the ride and loves riding the trolley but most of all she loves spending time with her grandfather. Just a simple story about the ride and their relationship. Throughout the book there are sound-words such as clackety-clack and Ding gong! Ding gong! Anyone who has ridden a trolley is familiar with these sounds and will enjoy the book.

This book in no way is focused on actual trolleys, facts about trolleys, history of trolleys, etc. If you are a trolley buff you may be interested to know that the trolley pictured ran in New Haven, CT and bears the sign "Lighthouse via Forbes Ave". The car was built by J.M. Jones Sons in 1905 and is Connecticut Trolley 838. The author notes that the photographs were taken at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine and that this trolley may be ridden there even today. The author clearly loves trolleys and mentions that his own grandfather was a trolley car operator.

I love the inclusion of trolleys in a beautiful picture book for young children and especially like to see a loving family relationship between grandfather and granddaughter. Applause for not making the child male which would have been more of the usual sexist pairing of boys with trains and trolleys.