Old Penn Station
Grade 3–6—Once upon a time, the railroad was the way to travel, and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was one of the best in the business. Blocked from reaching its Manhattan goal by the depths of the Hudson River, and with a bravado showing just what money can do, the company hired workers to tunnel under and an architectural firm to build the then-grandest railroad depot going—Pennsylvania Station. In this heavily pictorial, slim volume, Low's lyrical text and handsome illustrations pay tribute to an imposing piece of American architecture, describing its cultural impact both in its existence and its destruction. This book opens a nostalgic window into its magical vastness, and mourns its loss—reduced to rubble dumped into the nearby Jersey marshes. Similar in tone to Harvey Stevenson's equally attractiveLooking at Liberty(HarperCollins, 2003), Low's compassionate pen and artistic eye may have children taking second, assessing looks at "old" buildings headed for the wrecker's ball. An enlivening addition to the usually somnolent 385.3's.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.