The Bell in the Bridge

Is the sound Charlie hears from the bridge an echo, or is someone else out there? A lyrical, resonant story by poet Ted Kooser, splendidly illustrated by Barry Root.

When Charlie visits his hardworking grandparents in the summer, he often is left to himself, and he is lonely. So he goes out to play by the stream, with a tin can for tadpoles, a special weed-whacking stick, and stones to drop from the iron bridge. One day he notices that when he strikes the bridge with a big stone, it rings with a bong like a church bell and echoes into the valley. And sometimes a faint, very distant, different-sounding bong comes back. Is it an echo of an echo? Or could someone else, like him, be ringing another bridge altogether? The Bell in the Bridge reverberates with the mysteries and possibilities of childhood discovery, enhanced by illustrations that echo the warmth and magic of a solo summertime adventure.

Ted Kooser was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006 and won a Pulitzer Prize for his book of poems Delights & Shadows. His picture books include Bag in the Wind, also illustrated by Barry Root, and House Held Up by Trees, a New York Times Book Review 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Book, illustrated by Jon Klassen. Ted Kooser lives in Garland, Nebraska.

Barry Root has illustrated many books for children, including The Birthday Tree by Paul Fleischman, Passing the Music Down by Sarah Sullivan, and Bag in the Wind by Ted Kooser. He is also the illustrator of The Araboolies of Liberty Street by Sam Swope, which has been adapted for and performed on the stage. Barry Root lives in Pennsylvania.