Orphan Train - Hardcover

Kay, Verla

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399236139 ISBN 13: 9780399236136

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, 2003

Synopsis

After struggling to survive on the streets, orphans Lucy, Harold, and David find it fortunate to be cared for by the local orphanage, but when they head out on the orphan train, they come to realize that different farming families will make specific selections and cause the break-up of what remains of their own family.

About this title

From Booklist:

K-Gr. 2. In titles such as Tattered Sails (2001), about a pilgrim family's journey from England, Kay uses short, rhyming text to describe complicated, sometimes painful historical events. In this offering, three children watch their parents die of typhoid fever before they are sent on an orphan train to the Midwest and adopted by farm families. The chanting rhythm of the rhymes is sometimes a jarring contrast to the frightening subject: "Parents coughing, / Shaking chill / stomachs aching / deathly ill." But with just a few words per page, Kay gives an admirable sense of the orphan-train experience, and Stark's vibrant acrylics, filled with historical detail, contrast the horror of the parents' sickroom with the brilliant green midwestern landscape. There are no neat conclusions here. Kay's short text conveys subtle emotions along with facts: the "twinge of guilt" that a girl feels after she finally settles into a cozy new home, for example. Teachers introducing this in an elementary social studies curriculum will enjoy the accessible author's note, which offers historical background. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4-During the late 1800s and early 1900s, thousands of children from East Coast cities were shipped by train to the Midwest and given to whomever would take them. This illustrated poem follows three siblings' journey from their parents' death to a city orphanage to their new homes. The poem is written in short, terse lines that echo the rhythm of the swaying train. Some of the rhymes are contrived, such as "Slowly learning,/Day by day./Lucy giggles./`Goat, don't play!'" but most are more natural, e.g., "Station nearing,/Whistle blows./Wiping faces, /Smoothing clothes." An author's note gives a few pertinent facts about the Orphan Trains. Stark's realistic oil paintings appear on full spreads, and earth tones predominate. The children have personality, but some of their expressions are slightly exaggerated. While this is a good introduction to the subject, Eve Bunting's Train to Somewhere (Clarion, 1996) is a longer, more involved story and is a better choice for children with sufficient attention spans.
Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0399236139
• ISBN 13: 9780399236136
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Stark Ken