Steam, Smoke, and Steel: Back in Time with Trains [Hardcover]

Patrick O'Brien (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

All aboard for a history of America's trains! The hissing steam, billowing smoke, and sleek steel engine of the train have long captured the imagination. In this informative book, a young boy looks back through time to give a guided tour of his family's history on the railroad. Each generation is introduced by a detailed illustration of a train of the era. Facts and anecdotes about trains and the people who make them run follow each showcased locomotive. Discover how steam engines work, learn why a brakeman's job is so dangerous, and even witness a train robbery in this tribute to that nostalgic, enduring, and fascinating mode of transportation--the train.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For this short history of trains, O'Brien (Gigantic! How Big Were the Dinosaurs?) brings a fictional overlay to a fact-filled presentation. The child narrator comes from a long dynasty of train engineers. Starting with his father (who drives a giant locomotive) and working his way back to his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather ("one of the very first people ever to drive a train in this country"), the narrator describes the generations both of his family and of trains. Both the text and the watercolor-and-gouache illustrations are generous with details, explaining how different types of engines work and identifying specific parts of various trains. Anecdotes dot the narrative. For example, in the 1960s the boy's grandfather hauls a circus train up from Florida; in the 1870s Jesse James and his gang stage a hold-up of the great-great-great-grandfather's train. But the storytelling isn't vivid enough to overcome the limitations of the mannered structureAonly railroad aficionados are likely to hop aboard. Ages 4-9. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-Beginning with a boy's description of his father's job as a locomotive engineer, this book offers a history of railroads through the eyes of the child's ancestors. From his father's modern train, complete with computer controls, readers jump back to the boy's grandfather, who drove a diesel locomotive in the 1960s. They continue back through the years to the youngster's great-great-great-great-great grandfather, one of the first to drive the "brand-new invention called a steam locomotive." Each section starts with a two-page spread with a large illustration of the train from the time period. Each one sits in the same station and has a different cat for observant eyes to spot. Alternate spreads feature more detailed information about these means of locomotion in the various eras. Technology facts are neatly interwoven with reminiscences from various relatives. Great-great-great-grandfather's train was held up by Jesse James; great-grandmother was one of the few women who drove a steam locomotive in the 1930s. In a pleasing conclusion, the boy imagines himself as a grown-up engineer, telling his own daughter about driving a futuristic train. The inventive narrative approach presents plenty of fascinating facts about trains of the past. At the same time it conveys a sense of family pride, as well as respect for earlier days. The fictionalized anecdotes give just enough information for children to get a sense of what it might have been like to ride (or drive) a train over the past 150 years.
Steven Engelfried, Deschutes County Library, Bend, OR
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881069698
• ISBN-13: 978-0881069693
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #869,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative and Entertaining Presentation of Train History, August 6, 2004

By 

Allison (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steam, Smoke, and Steel: Back in Time with Trains (Hardcover)

When my son found this book at the local library, I couldn't wait to write a gushing review. I am really delighted with this book. The more we read it together, the more impressed I am with the author and illustrator.

This book is organized so that you go back in time, viewing the trains of earlier and earlier generations. (This is much more interesting than it sounds. Stay with me!) The narrator is a boy who says that when he goes up, he wants to drive a train like his dad. Then we hear about how his dad also wanted to be an engineer because that is what HIS father was, and so forth. We are brought back in time all the way to the earliest American trains (and the boy's great great great great great grandfather--kids love the repetition too). The final scene is a futuristic train that the boy imagines driving when he grows up.

Every other page spread on the book contains short text about a child wanting to drive trains like his father (or mother in one case!) and a gorgeous illustration of a train. If you look carefully, you'll see that every scene is shown from the exact same vantage point, with the same mountains in the background. Not only do the trains change, but so do the stations, the tracks, and the buildings around them. The illustration style is lush, and every one of these images features a different cat somewhere in the scene. My son loves to search for them.

The alternating page spreads contain extended text and additional images about the era of train history depicted on the previous page. I have read many, many books on trains because my son gobbles up anything we can find on them, and yet I learned many new things from this book. For instance, did you know that when multiple engines are used to pull a train, they are called a "consist"? Or that brakemen on old trains had to run along the tops of the cars to set the brakes on each one manually? The level of detail is not a whole lot greater than most other non-fiction train books for kids, but it seems to find the most unique and telling details.

I would recommend this book for any train child ages 3 and up. You won't mind reading this one over and over. For younger children, just read the text on alternating pages and the captions of the pictures on the more detailed sections.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trains,Trains,Trains, January 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Steam, Smoke, and Steel: Back in Time with Trains (Paperback)

I checked this book out at the library, and now have to purchase it for a nephew who loves trains. It is a great book that details the history of trains, but adds in a story (a family with many generations working on the trains) to keep the interest of children. Beautiful illustrations with a cat on every page my kids had to find.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars El, September 15, 2005

By 

Ellen Podlaski (Dix Hills, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steam, Smoke, and Steel: Back in Time with Trains (Hardcover)

My little newphew loves, loves trains. At this time this is his favorite train book. We read only every other page. The other pages are to long, but he loves it. And I like the theme of the story.