Audio of the Week: The Train they Call the City of New Orleans
RSSFrom SLJ December 2004
Stephanie Bange, Wilmington-Stroop Branch, Dayton (OH) Metro Library -- School Library Journal, 11/29/2004
(Music Makers Series). 1 cassette or 1 CD. 10:02 min. with hardcover book. Live Oak Media (www.liveoakmedia.com). 2004. cassette: ISBN 1-59112-900-1: $25.95; CD, ISBN 1-59112-904-4: $28.95.
PreS-Gr 3-The train ride from Chicago to New Orleans has been immortalized in the ballad by Steve Goodman. Tom Chapin's reading of the text is riveting with the pace just slow enough to allow readers to savor Michael McCurdy's illustrations (Putnam, 2003). Train whistles, signal bells, and blasts of air accompany Chapin's gravelly voice. Blues played on the guitar, a banjo plinking away, shuffling feet, and cards being shuffled add to the flavor. Chapin first reads the story and then sings it. Track one has page-turning signals. Sure to give readers a toe-tapping time while they belt out the refrain, "Good morning, America, how are you?"
