Jackson and Bud's Bumpy Ride: America's First Cross-country Automobile Trip - Hardcover

Koehler-Pentacoff, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0822578859 ISBN 13: 9780822578857

Publisher: Millbrook Pr, 2009

Synopsis

Dr. Horatio Jackson wasn’t necessarily a betting man. But in 1903, he overheard a stranger saying that it was just not possible to drive across the United States in one of those unreliable, newfangled automobiles. Jackson disagreed - he believed in the future of the automobile. So he made a $50 bet with the man that he could drive a car from San Francisco to New York. Jackson bought a used Winton automobile, hired a mechanic named Crocker, packed some supplies, and adopted Bud, a bulldog who became their mascot. The trio’s only goal was to make it from San Francisco all the way to New York City in one piece. Yet 5,600 miles and 63 1/2 days later, what they actually did was make history. This true story is based on Jackson’s own account of the first automobile trip across the United States.

Find out more about this fascinating story by watching the book trailer:
Jackson and Bud's Bumpy Ride Book Trailer: Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff

About this title

About the Authors

Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff is the author of The ABCs of Writing for Children, a Writer's Digest Featured Book Club Selection, Curtain Call, and a number of children's books including John Muir and Stickeen. She is Byline Magazine's Writing for Children columnist and has taught educators through California State University Hayward's East Bay Extension and UC Santa Cruz. A former elementary and middle school teacher, she currently chairs a San Francisco Bay Area Middle School Writing Contest.
After attending the University of Arizona, Wes was syndicated as a cartoonist through King Features. He now has a steady clientele for freelance illustrations and covers with newspapers and other clients across the West. This is his first picture book.

Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff is the author of The ABCs of Writing for Children, a Writer's Digest Featured Book Club Selection, Curtain Call, and a number of children's books including John Muir and Stickeen. She is Byline Magazine's Writing for Children columnist and has taught educators through California State University Hayward's East Bay Extension and UC Santa Cruz. A former elementary and middle school teacher, she currently chairs a San Francisco Bay Area Middle School Writing Contest.

After attending the University of Arizona, Wes was syndicated as a cartoonist through King Features. He now has a steady clientele for freelance illustrations and covers with newspapers and other clients across the West. This is his first picture book.

Reviews

It might be difficult for children to imagine a time when cars didn’t rule the road, and roads themselves didn’t rule the landscape, but this true account will take them back to an era when that scenario seemed unlikely. In 1903, Horatio Jackson wagered that he could drive a “horseless buggy” across the country, and puttered out from San Francisco to New York with a mechanic buddy. En route, they pick up the quintessential driving partner, a dog named Bud, who becomes a focal point for all the people marveling at the sensational driving machine blowing through town at upward of 30 miles per hour. Setting up the blueprint for countless cross-country road trips to come, they encounter all manner of breakdowns, tough luck, and rousing adventure along the way. Hargis’ glib cartoon illustrations of the begoggled trio and their clanging, mud-spattered auto are a terrific match to the lighthearted narrative. An afterword provides a deeper appreciation for just how remarkable and historical their adventure really was. Easily accesible history here. Grades 1-3. --Ian Chipman

Edition details

• Publisher: Millbrook Pr
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0822578859
• ISBN 13: 9780822578857
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Hargis Wes
• Number of pages: 32