Crossing the Gotthard: The Longest Tunnel in the World

Rogenmoser, a scientific illustrator, loosely chronicles the methods of transportation used to cross Switzerland’s Gotthard pass over the centuries, including early bridges, pack animals, stagecoaches, and steam engines, all building to the 2016 opening of the 35-mile Gotthard Base Tunnel. A (mostly superfluous) narrative frame shows a family preparing to cross through the tunnel. “Years ago, this journey was a lot harder!” announces the mother to her impatient children. The family disappears until the end of the book, replaced by a local mountain goat named Godi, who serves as a guide of sorts as Rogenmoser unfurls an intriguing history of evolving technologies, local anecdotes, and the efforts that went in to creating the Gotthard tunnels. While Rogenmoser’s pencils are well-suited to the details of bridges, trains, and construction equipment, readers get less of a sense of the Alpine environs. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)