A Regular Rolling Noah

Poet Lyon and Caldecott Honorwinner Gammell tell the story of an unusual train trip from Kentucky to Canada, with text that sings and shimmering paintings that fairly burst with color. The boy who narrates the tale has been hired by the Creeches to help them movelivestock and allup North. An entire household of belongings is loaded onto freight cars, and a boxcar becomes a barn on wheels; it is an old hobo the narrator meets who dubs the lad ""A regular rolling Noah,'' for taking care of Rosie the cow and her calf, chickens and guineas, a mare named Bad Patch and other animals. They pass through a place where ``We've run out of mountains./ Sky right down to your ankles./Big wind might blow you away.'' Finally, they arrive, and the boy is given, for pay, a ticket back to Kentucky. On his way, he muses, ``World's a big affair . . . . / Be glad you have these mountains to call home.'' This work is a feast for the eyes and ears. (4-7)