Subway($11.46Value)

Description

Speed. Color. Sound. Numbers. Maps. Connections. Navigation. Subway systems may be specific to certain cities around the world, but the pure thrill of a subway ride is universal to all young children. Christoph Niemann’s graphically elegant and playful picture book is a tour de force for preschoolers and a stellar addition to the canon of books about trains, trucks, planes, and automobiles. Based on the author’s own underground adventures with his young boys—chronicled for adult readers in Niemann’s New York Times blog, Abstract City—this innovative picture book is an invitation down underground, where a system of trains and tracks delivers millions of riders to their destinations each day. “Underneath the city is this beautifully simple system of letters, numbers, and colors. The trains and stations are huge and impressive but also comforting, because nothing ever changes. My boys are in charge; they can read the signs, navigate the grid, and they always know what happens next.”—Christoph Niemann PreSchool-Grade 1—This colorful, vivacious, child-centered title began with a post on Niemann's blog, Abstract City, in which he describes a day of riding the subway with his two sons just for fun. The artist uses thick gouache paint to render his characters as standard pictograms, akin to those on city signs, with curved edges for hands and feet, and the technique creates a chalky texture that looks like correction fluid. Visual communication lords over the text. Niemann uses many tropes for expression: the youngsters, excited to spend the rainy day on the subway, hi-five. The agony of the adventure coming to an end is punctuated with tears bursting from one son and father dragging the other one, boneless. The spreads of the dedication page, the A train and all its 44 stops, and the wild crisscrossing array of colored lines under Times Square mirroring the famed city lights on the surface, capture the glory of this venerable transportation system. The rhyming text and references to subway lore add chuckles for older readers, but the meter does create an occasional stumble. A sure hit with most youngsters, especially those who are transfixed by trains.— Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Train lovers everywhere will enjoy this picture-book ride conducted by a New York Times blogger. One day, a bored father and his two children take an adventure on public transportation through Manhattan and its neighboring boroughs. Along the way, they wave to rats and the Statue of Liberty, ride next to cowboys and bankers, and plan circuitous routes just to prolong the fun. The text is sometimes choppy and awkward (“Riding the A requires some patience if you plan to visit all forty-four stations”). But the gouache art is distinctively urban and bold. Faceless, silhouetted figures resemble those on the pedestrian crossing lights, and the NYC subway's rainbow of iconic lines and signage is creatively woven into the dark, black underground and on the sunny elevated tracks. Other titles, such as Heather Lynn Miller's Subway Ride (2008), are more universal. Niemann's enthusiastic offering is an experience that, like many others, can only be had in the Big Apple. Preschool-Grade 2. --Andrew Medlar “A sure hit with most youngsters, especially those who are transfixed by trains.” - School Library Journal “Distinctively urban and bold…train lovers everywhere will enjoy this picture-book ride.” - ALA Booklist Praise for The Pet Dragon: “An ingenious, breezy tale.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Playful and humorous . . . this title is sure to please.” - School Library Journal (starred review) “This artistic tour de force will appeal to New Yorkers and visitors alike.” - Kirkus Reviews “An abundance of droll details will delight regular straphangers and stir the imaginations of transportation-obsessed children.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) A father. Two children. And more than 840 miles of track. What does it addup to? Something thrilling . Are you ready for Subway ? Christoph Niemann is an illustrator, author, and animator. His work has been the subject of numerous museum retrospectives and appears regularly on the covers of the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine . His acclaimed books for children include Words , The Pet Dragon , and Subway . Christoph Niemann lives in Berlin, Germany, with his family.