"Clear bright illustrations show all the cars of a train bringing the reader the excitement of movement through day and night, country and city."—Booklist.
Author Biography: Donald Crews is the renowned creator of two Caldecott Honor books, Freight Train and Truck. Among his other enormously popular books are such favorites as Night at the Fair, Sail Away, Bigmama's, Shortcut, and School Bus. He and his wife, Ann Jonas, live in New York's Hudson River Valley.
Donald Crews grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and says that all through his childhood the members of his family were always doing something with their hands. He was always drawing pictures. Now, in the old farmhouse where he lives with his wife, the noted author and illustrator Ann Jonas, Donald Crews is still drawing pictures.
After graduating from New York City's Cooper Union, Mr. Crews spent three years working as a designer. He was assistant art director of Dance magazine, on the staff of a small design studio, and did freelance work as a book-jacket designer. But in 1962 he was inducted into the Army, and for a time his artistic pursuits were set aside. As the end of his eighteen-month military stint in Germany approached, he assigned himself to the task of writing and illustrating a children's book to add to his portfolio. The result was the brilliant concept book We Read: A to Z (Harper & Row, 1967), which, nearly twenty years later, was reissued by Greenwillow Books. Ten Black Dots, a counting book, came next, and then several books for which he did illustrations only. But the turning point came in 1978, when Greenwillow published FreightTrain, a picture book inspired by Mr. Crews's childhood train trips from Newark to visit his grandmother in Florida. It was named a Caldecott Honor Book. Since then, Mr. Crews has created several other highly acclaimed picture books (including Truck, a 1981 Calclecott Honor Book), all painted in the flat, clean colors and bright, unambiguous shapes that are the hallmarks of his striking graphics.
Donald Crews grew up in Newark, New Jersey, spent his summers in Cottondale, Florida, and was graduated from Cooper Union in New York City. He and his wife, Ann Jonas, live in Brooklyn, New York.
When Donald Crews is asked why he focuses on picture books, he frequently answers, "Why not?" All the tools necessary for the creation of any piece of art are also elements in a successful picture book. Mr. Crews chooses a subject, explores ways to develop the subject visually, writes a story, then produces his finished illustrations. And the final audience, the children, tell him that they like what he does. Why not, indeed!Donald Crews grew up in Newark, New Jersey, spent his summers in Cottondale, Florida, and was graduated from Cooper Union in New York City. He and his wife, Ann Jonas, live in Brooklyn, New York.
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Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Presented in blocks of brilliant colors, the multihued train in this Caldecott Honor book undertakes a dazzling journey before disappearing from the final page. Ages 2-up. (Sept.)
Children's Literature - Susie Wilde
New in board book format, Donald Crews' Freight Train tracks a brightly colored train across trestles and through tunnels until it's "going, going...gone". The book's pages hold a certain rhythm and drama, and you can further engage your baby by add the chug-a-chug-a of a moving train as you turn the pages. This is a book with longevity Toddlers will enjoy color naming and preschoolers can view the colors mix due to the train's movements. Now the sturdy cardboard pages will help the book last.
Children's Literature
A train makes its journey across the pages of this book, providing young readers the opportunity to learn the names of the cars and to practice counting skills. The text is spare, giving a minimum of description so that the illustrations are responsible for conveying the experience of a train passing by. While spare, the story is simple and poetic in English, however, the Spanish translation loses this poetry. The names of the trains lack the alliteration found in English, and the verbs are not chosen with care to preserve the feeling of locomotion. The careless translation is sometimes incorrect. Crews won the Caldecott for this book and the airbrush illustrations are the strongest element of the story; they remain graphic and exciting and are not overwhelmed by the Spanish text added to this bilingual edition. This book is perfect for teaching about transportation, or for learning colors, but it is better in English and lackluster in Spanish. 2003 (orig. 1978), Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Publishers Inc, Ages 3 to 6.
—Veronica Betancourt <%ISBN%>068880165X
