Just Fine the Way They Are...

One of the books I picked up at NCTE is Just Fine the Way They Are by Connie Wooldridge.  It was one of the books that caught my eye... first the subtitle From Dirt Road to Rail Road to Interstates.  Then I was struck by the last page, which reads

     "And then what do we get but a pack of crazy thinkers coming up with ideas about how to make cars run on things like electricity and fuel cells and even corn.  Next thing they'll be saying is we don't even need cars or roads anymore because they've come up with something better.
     All of which is plain nonsense.  Because things are just fine they way they are..."

This book focuses on the question, "Change. Who needs it?" It begins with a tavern keeper who has a business along a rutted dirt road and it moves to the stage coach era of the mid-1800s then to the railroads... model T automobiles... and so on.  It's really a book about movement... movement through the changes in the transportation system in our country.

     And here we are today... moving briskly along super highways throughout the United States... and beyond.  The author has captured the historical perspective of transportation and its role in our history, and she's done it beautifully.  I love the illustrations by Richard Walz... whimsical, fitting, and inviting.

     This book is going in the "Endurance and Stamina" basket in my classroom!  I think students will love reading this enjoyable "history" of transportation and the role its changes have played in America!