Emma and the Silk Train - Hardcover

Lawson, Julie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1550743880 ISBN 13: 9781550743883

Publisher: Kids Can Press, 1997

Synopsis

Emma's longing for a piece of silk puts her life in danger in an intriguing tale of 1920s Canada.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul Mombourquette is an award-winning children's book illustrator. He has illustrated several books including Fog Cat, Emma and the Silk Train, and Klondike Cat. Paul is a computer animator and works for Disney Interactive Studio. He currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3-A young girl living alongside the railroad tracks is fascinated by the speed of the "silkers." Her station-master father explains that these trains carry silk from the Orient and must quickly get to New York with the cargo. Based on a true incident in 1927, this story tells of one such train that doesn't make it and its bundles of cloth are dumped into the Fraser River in British Columbia. Emma helps the local folks try to find the fabric because she is determined to get a piece to make a dress. As she reaches to grab the wonderful piece of red silk floating in the river, she is swept away by the current and becomes trapped on a small rocky island. There, she uses the material as a flag to attract the attention of another "silker" crew. Soft, impressionistic paints evoke the ruggedness of the canyon setting, the subtle warmth of autumn colors, and the beckoning contrast of the red silk caught in the turbulent river torrents. Mombourquette has created a memorable feeling of another time, place, and community, a moment when all are one with the river and the passing trains. Readers get a sense that the illustrator is a steam train buff, as the detail of the trains and railroad life is quite remarkable. The gentle softness of Lawson's lyrical style gives evidence of her love of the sounds of the language and her consummate storytelling ability. Contrasting sentence lengths and the clever use of repetition insist that the story be shared and read aloud.
Ronald Jobe, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1550743880
• ISBN 13: 9781550743883
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Mombourquette Paul