Let's Go! The Story of Getting From There to Here. Lizann Flatt. Illustrated by Scot Ritchie. Toronto, ON: Maple Tree Press, 2007. 40 pp., hardcover, $19.95. ISBN 978-1-897349-02-1. Subject Heading: Transportation-History-Juvenile literature. Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8. Review by Robert Groberman. ** /4

excerpt:

A whinney!
A neigh!

What wonderful beasts! Horses stepped out of sailing ships. At first just a few but the herds slowly grew.

They went faster and farther, they helped with the hunt. Horses to ride, horses to trade, and horses to tow the travois.

In her 8" x 10" format picture book, Let's Go!, Lizann Flatt traces the history of transportation and of Canada, from the first hunters who walked from Asia to Canada's north, to canoes and toboggans, to the arrival of Europeans with sailing ships and horses, to steamboats, steam engine trains, to cars, planes and space shuttles.

     There are a lot of facts here. The text, though not overly long, is full of difficult vocabulary for young children. Words like "portage," "travois," and "bushplanes," though wonderfully illustrated on the full-colour pages by Scot Ritchie, are not easily defined. Some terms are explained in a three-page "Did You Know" section appended to the book, but this final section is mostly intended to tell curious stories about early road conditions and how steam trains were powered. Some terms are never defined.

      This book is saved by the tremendously detailed and colourful illustrations of Scot Ritchie. His drawings, which cover every page of this book, contain an example of each historical transportation artifact referenced in the text. There are adults and children in the illustrations and, as an additional puzzle, the illustrator has included an identical small dog in every illustration, from the First Nations people crossing the wilderness to the passengers in the space shuttle.

      Children will enjoy this book for the pictures. On rereading, they may pick up some of the vocabulary, and, with adult help, identify these references.

Recommended.

Robert Groberman is a grade two teacher at Kirkbride Elementary School, Surrey, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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