ISO: picture books where a character takes multiple transportatations
September 17, 2020 7:04 PM Subscribe
Please tell me about kids picture books where a character goes on some kind of trip and takes multiple forms of transportation as part of that trip (e.g. bus, train, boat, plane, etc.). Whacky transportation forms (rockets, blimps, jetpacks etc. ) also acceptable. They key is that the trip involve switching between transportation methods. Tell me the book and if you know/remember, the premise, the reason for the switching etc. (I can't just get books from the library because pandemic, so the more you can tell me the better).
How Little Lori Visited Times Square by Amos Vogel and Maurice Sendak. It's from 1963.
Little Lori attempts to get to Times Square by way of:
- Walking to 8th Street
- Taking the subway (but ending up at South Ferry)
- Riding the bus (but ending up on 242nd Street)
- Riding a taxi (but he is too little to have any money so the driver won't take him)
- Taking the elevated subway (but ending up at Uncle Eddie's house in Queens)
- Taking a boat (but ending up in Staten Island)
- Taking a helicopter (and ending up at Idlewild Airport)
- Riding a horse and wagon (and ending up in central Central Park)
- Jumping on a pony (who only ran around in a circle)
- Asking the Central Park Zoo sea lions for a ride (but only getting wet)
- Taking an elevator (but ending up on the 125th floor of Macy's)
And then finally being offered a ride atop the shell of a very kind turtle. That was four months ago and no one has seen them since.
The whole thing is completely adorable.
posted by mochapickle at 7:31 PM on September 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
Little Lori attempts to get to Times Square by way of:
- Walking to 8th Street
- Taking the subway (but ending up at South Ferry)
- Riding the bus (but ending up on 242nd Street)
- Riding a taxi (but he is too little to have any money so the driver won't take him)
- Taking the elevated subway (but ending up at Uncle Eddie's house in Queens)
- Taking a boat (but ending up in Staten Island)
- Taking a helicopter (and ending up at Idlewild Airport)
- Riding a horse and wagon (and ending up in central Central Park)
- Jumping on a pony (who only ran around in a circle)
- Asking the Central Park Zoo sea lions for a ride (but only getting wet)
- Taking an elevator (but ending up on the 125th floor of Macy's)
And then finally being offered a ride atop the shell of a very kind turtle. That was four months ago and no one has seen them since.
The whole thing is completely adorable.
posted by mochapickle at 7:31 PM on September 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
Bunnies on the Go! Rabbits on vacation taking a new mode of transportation in every spread. Written in bouncy verse with little cliffhangers at the end of every recto, so kids can use the rhyme to guess the vehicle depicted in the next spread. Lots of fun to read aloud.
posted by apparently at 7:44 PM on September 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by apparently at 7:44 PM on September 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
The story "Ma Pig's New Car" in Richard Scarry's Favorite Storybook Ever features Pa Pig and his children attempting to buy a new car as a present for Ma Pig. But Pa Pig is extremely absentminded and on the way home to give Ma her new present he keeps stopping for minor errands and then getting into a different vehicle afterwards--a truck, police car, a fire engine, a bulldozer. There is some good background detail featuring the pursuing owners being reunited with their vehicles as he serially abandons them for new ones.
Richard Scarry is of course a rich source of transportation-related children's literature but that's the only one I can think of offhand that has the main character change transportation modes multiple times.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 7:52 PM on September 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
Richard Scarry is of course a rich source of transportation-related children's literature but that's the only one I can think of offhand that has the main character change transportation modes multiple times.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 7:52 PM on September 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
Whoops, missed the edit window! Here's a video of Bunnies on the Go being read at a library story hour.
posted by apparently at 7:53 PM on September 17, 2020
posted by apparently at 7:53 PM on September 17, 2020
Green Eggs and Ham is a story told in verse by Theodor Geisel, published under the pseudonym "Dr. Suess".
In the story, an unnamed character seeks to escape from the hero, Sam-I-Am, who is pestering him to try the story's eponymous dish. He travels first by car, then train, and finally by boat. In addition to modes of transportation, the unnamed character flees to various locations (box, house, etc) and spends time with other characters (goat, fox, etc).
As the story continues and the character seeks more and more outlandish avenues of escape, the verses increase in length, recapping all that has come before. This lengthening mirrors the relentlessness of Sam-I-Am, the descent into madness of the unnamed character, and the impossibility of his escaping without ever trying green eggs and ham.
In the story, an unnamed character seeks to escape from the hero, Sam-I-Am, who is pestering him to try the story's eponymous dish. He travels first by car, then train, and finally by boat. In addition to modes of transportation, the unnamed character flees to various locations (box, house, etc) and spends time with other characters (goat, fox, etc).
As the story continues and the character seeks more and more outlandish avenues of escape, the verses increase in length, recapping all that has come before. This lengthening mirrors the relentlessness of Sam-I-Am, the descent into madness of the unnamed character, and the impossibility of his escaping without ever trying green eggs and ham.
I could not, would not, on a boat.posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:58 PM on September 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I will not, will not, with a goat.
I will not eat them in the rain.
I will not eat them on a train.
Not in the dark! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! You let me be!
I do not like them in a box.
I do not like them with a fox.
I will not eat them in a house.
I do not like them with a mouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere!
Spot A Lot Vehicle Adventure. The delivery person has to get a package across town, and is in cars, boats, bikes, hot air balloons, and eventually a jetpack.
Animation ad the book here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzeM_wPoxMg
posted by nickggully at 8:18 PM on September 17, 2020
Animation ad the book here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzeM_wPoxMg
posted by nickggully at 8:18 PM on September 17, 2020
Monkey on the Run, by Leo Timmers. No words, but the kid monkey swings from one vehicle to another after their Dad picks them up from school. You can make up your own story why.
posted by postel's law at 9:20 PM on September 17, 2020
posted by postel's law at 9:20 PM on September 17, 2020
Down by the Station is a singing book for littles but does indeed cover a new type of transportation on every page.
posted by aetg at 4:14 AM on September 18, 2020
posted by aetg at 4:14 AM on September 18, 2020
Puffin Peter by Petr Horáček. Peter is separated from his friend Paul by being blown away by a storm, but instead assumes that his friend Paul is lost and sets out to find him. Among other things,he hitches a ride from a whale.
posted by rjs at 8:44 AM on September 18, 2020
posted by rjs at 8:44 AM on September 18, 2020
The Way Downtown: Adventures in Public Transit.
Dr. Brody takes her bike to the ferry, then rides the bike again
Robbie and Aunt Raisa take a bus to the subway train
Agent Theodore Rybka's route "includes two train rides, lots of walking, and three subway rides" (bc he's a secret agent, see)
The Zaines (two parents + two kids) take the subway
Boris (guide dog) and Guy walk to the light rail
They all end up at Great Park together, coincidentally, because it's a big beautiful city full of such happenstances.
posted by teremala at 10:48 AM on September 18, 2020
Dr. Brody takes her bike to the ferry, then rides the bike again
Robbie and Aunt Raisa take a bus to the subway train
Agent Theodore Rybka's route "includes two train rides, lots of walking, and three subway rides" (bc he's a secret agent, see)
The Zaines (two parents + two kids) take the subway
Boris (guide dog) and Guy walk to the light rail
They all end up at Great Park together, coincidentally, because it's a big beautiful city full of such happenstances.
posted by teremala at 10:48 AM on September 18, 2020
The book I Really Want To See You, Grandma might fit. A little girl sets out to visit her grandmother (all by herself, clearly with adult ok because she says bye to a parent) but grandma leaves her house at the same time to see Yumi.
They take various modes back and forth and miss each other a few times but eventually meet up. I remember: scooter, bus, train, truck, taxi.
Here's a glimpse so you can see the art style : Google Books Preview
This book did make us all a little sad because we missed our Grandma visits this summer.
posted by WowLookStars at 11:37 AM on September 18, 2020
They take various modes back and forth and miss each other a few times but eventually meet up. I remember: scooter, bus, train, truck, taxi.
Here's a glimpse so you can see the art style : Google Books Preview
This book did make us all a little sad because we missed our Grandma visits this summer.
posted by WowLookStars at 11:37 AM on September 18, 2020
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posted by HeroZero at 7:13 PM on September 17, 2020 [4 favorites]