Steam!: Taming the River Monster

by Wim Coleman, Pat Perrin

Overview

In 1807 at the age of 13, Brenton Dixon lived in Albany, New York, and expected to become a blacksmith's apprentice. Then one day he and his friends saw something strange out on the Hudson River, approaching from downstream. Many were sure that it was a fire-breathing monster and the sight created havoc on shore and on the water. It was Robert Fulton's pioneering steamboat the Clermont, making its maiden voyage from New York City to Albany.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939656742
Publisher:	Red Chair Press
Publication date:	01/01/2015
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

About the Author

Wim Coleman has written more than 100 books with his wife. For 13 years he lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where he created and managed a scholarship program for at-risk youth.

Pat Perrin has written more than 100 books with her husband. For 13 years she lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where she created and managed a scholarship program for at-risk youth.

Sue Todd is an award-winning illustrator living in Toronto, Ontario. She creates linocut prints in her yellow studio, and gets her best ideas while riding around the city on her bicycle.

Editorial Reviews

"This series presents various episodes of American history through stage plays. Comprised entirely of dialogue, the books are told from the perspectives of elderly people reflecting on their youthful adventures, including 19th-century steam train worker Bella Lee Dunkinson and explorer Patrick Gass of the Lewis and Clark expedition. One-page introductions provide relevant historical context, along with a 'Cast of Characters' listing. The format necessitates elements of fictionalization, which the books indicate. Some readers may become confused when the dialogue switches quickly between the older narrator's voice and the depicted historical episode. Yet overall, these engaging and creative offerings succeed, introducing important people, events, and inventions in a lively, dramatic way. More difficult vocabulary words are set in bold and defined in glossaries. Each volume features a different illustrator, which gives the series a diverse aesthetic. Todd's linocuts present the Hudson River of 1807 in brilliant abstraction, while Jacobsen's smooth pastels bring Lewis and Clark's expedition to life, and Renaud's fluid lines give vibrant motion to a chugging steam train. These works encourage group reading, with different readers assuming different parts. VERDICT: Recommended for history curricula, as well as for both school and public libraries."―School Library Journal

From the Publisher