Hiawatha Passing [Hardcover]

Jeff Hagen (Author), Kenneth Shue (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

"A heartfelt evocation of a singular event: the passing of a train at night across a snowy midwestern landscape, as observed by a boy spending his first night at his grandparents’ farmhouse." --Kirkus Reviews, pointer

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A train passes in the night-despite this extremely simple plot line, Hagen and Shue's debut is a picture book of considerable beauty and power. Spending the night at his grandparents' "tin-roofed farmhouse," a boy hears a train coming. He peers out the spot he's cleared in the frost-covered window ("like a pirate squinting into a spyglass"), sees faces in the train windows and wonders about them. As the train speeds away, "a shooting star etched a brilliant trail across the velvet black sky." Simple, yes, but Hagen and Shue swathe this tale in the wonder and magic of a child seeing the ordinary as extraordinary: "The rails began to hum. He could almost imagine them turning to color: changing from cold lifeless black to brilliant flame orange, throbbing with energy and promise." Shue's oils-inspired, he says, by Edward Hopper-superbly capture the night's enchanted mood, telling little and suggesting much. Inspired by the train called the Hiawatha, the world's fastest locomotive when it was introduced in 1935, this book should hook train lovers of all ages. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3?A boy wakes up in his grandparents' farmhouse, hearing "a low, distant sound." It gets louder, and finally a steam engine appears. It's the Hiawatha, a fast passenger train. Full-color oil paintings capture the splendor of the passing train through the use of intriguing perspectives. One scene shows the boy's view out the window through the "porthole" made by his breath on the frozen glass. A striking full-page illustration shows a head-on view of the huge and bright approaching headlight surrounded by darkness. The progression of pages brings the locomotive gradually closer, larger, and faster, until it passes and is shown again from a distance. Hagen's generally spare narrative sets the scene fairly well. Like the illustrations, the words reflect the boy's point of view, though in a couple of instances the ideas seem overstated. He imagines the rails "throbbing with energy and promise," for example, sounding more like a reminiscing adult than an amazed child. Similar in mood and appeal to Jim Aylesworth's Country Crossing (Atheneum, 1991) and Jonathan London's The Owl Who Became the Moon (Dutton, 1993), Hiawatha Passing captures the undeniable excitement of a roaring train in middle of the night.?Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (October 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805018328
• ISBN-13: 978-0805018325
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical - a lifetime favorite!, August 7, 2000

By 

Megan Burgess (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiawatha Passing (Hardcover)

This book takes me back to my own childhood visits to my grandparent's 100 year-old tin-roofed farmhouse along a train route in rural Pennsylvania. Now my 4 year-old son enjoys real-life "Hiawatha Passing" everytime we go to visit his great-grandparents and he gets to sleep in the upstairs bedroom facing the tracks. My son has memorized every word of this book including the postscript. The book is and will always be a family favorite. The story is captivatingly told and the illustrations are beautiful.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, exciting story., October 12, 1999

By 

Caryl and Monaire McCain ([e-mail]) (Madison, WI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiawatha Passing (Hardcover)

Such a wonderful story. It really pulls you into it. I had the honour of meeting the authour; he is one of my 6 year old son's teachers. The paintings are perfect for the story. So well written, you are there with the boy watching the train zoom by the house. We read it again and again!!!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hiawatha Legend, May 31, 2000

By 

Michael Sol "Michael Sol" (Missoula, MT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiawatha Passing (Hardcover)

The author mentions that even though this book is recommended for ages 4 to 8, he's had a good response from all ages. For good reason. For adults, the beauty of this charming little book is that it evokes the wonder of that age, both of the little boy, but also the Great Depression when those Hiawatha trains began running. The railroad itself was in bankruptcy, as so many were, but through management and mechanical innovation, these powerful steam streamliners blasted their way into America's consciousness. To little boys, they were that magical machine to everywhere. To adults, they were a powerful symbol of optimism in despairing times. The Milwaukee Road's famous train was the fastest steam powered train service in history. Smaller engines of the same design had been static tested at 169 miles an hour. To children and adults, there was somethng mythological about these great machines; for the kids, it was travel and adventure, and there was nothing more exciting than these trains blasting past at 110 mph. For the adults, it was hope for better times, the thundering message of these amazing Milwaukee Road Hiawathas ... at every Hiawatha Passing.