Trains: A Pop-Up Railroad Book
Grade 2-4–With pop-up effects that, appropriately enough, tend to be long, narrow, and placed in parallel tracks, this history of railroading opens with outside and inside views of a small steam locomotive and closes with a full-spread, double-tiered train station. In between, the book covers methods of propulsion, the development of passenger cars, speed and other records, tunnels, bridges, and other engineering feats. A mix of boldface titles and brief remarks, the text is printed both between and on or under moving parts–the latter adding another element of discovery for eager flap-lifters and tab-pullers. Crowther simplifies technological details in his neat, brightly colored collage illustrations, so this outing will draw a younger audience of trainiacs than the likes of Fiona Conboy'sTen Terrific Trains(Dutton, 1998).–John Peters, New York Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.