The John Bull: A British Locomotive Comes to America
Grade 4-7--This painstakingly detailed picture book provides an account of how theJohn Bull, a British locomotive, was built, brought to America in 1831, and used to run the first successful railroad line in New Jersey. While the descriptions of historical circumstances flow smoothly, the text becomes bogged down when Weitzman goes into mechanical or technical details, often using specialized vocabulary without explaining it. The black-and-white, pen-and-ink illustrations have been carefully researched for accuracy, but they have a stiff quality that will have little child appeal. Like the author'sLocomotive(Houghton, 1999; o.p.), this title is for die-hard train lovers with some previous knowledge of the subject.--Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.