Roller Coaster

by Marla Frazee, Marla Frazee (Illustrator)

Overview

From Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator Marla Frazee, a thrilling picture book that takes readers up, up, up to the highest point of a roller coaster, where no book has ever gone before! Wheeeeeeee!

This exhilarating amusement park visit begins with a line of prospective riders, eagerly awaiting their turn . . . with at least one person who has never done this before. Zooming, swerving, dipping, and diving, this delightful story featuring a breathtaking ride and a hilarious range of reactions, will help readers lose their roller coaster anxiety. Marla Frazee’s witty narrative and slyly building of tension delivers an experience unlike any other and will have readers begging to take another ride.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152057442
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/01/2006
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	39,163
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

MARLA FRAZEE has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, some of which she also wrote. Her picture book A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was named a Caldecott Honor Book. She is also the author and illustrator of Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages; Santa Claus, the World's Number One Toy Expert; Roller Coaster; and Hush, Little Baby. She is the illustrator of Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild by Mem Fox, and more. Marla Frazee lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her website at www.marlafrazee.com.  

MARLA FRAZEE has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, some of which she also wrote. Her picture book A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was named a Caldecott Honor Book. She is also the author and illustrator of Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages; Santa Claus, the World's Number One Toy Expert; Roller Coaster; and Hush, Little Baby. She is the illustrator of Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild by Mem Fox, and more. Marla Frazee lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her website at www.marlafrazee.com.  

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Captur[es] both the train's breathtaking speed and a hilarious range of rider reactions with consummate skill."—Kirkus Reviews

"A sweet and cheerful book."—The New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

"Captur[es] both the train's breathtaking speed and a hilarious range of rider reactions with consummate skill."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A sweet and cheerful book."—The New York Times Book Review
—

From the Publisher

The Barnes & Noble Review
Zoom along with a fast-as-lightning roller coaster in this awesome picture book from author/illustrator Marla Frazee.

In large, brisk illustrations that showcase a group of amusement park-goers riding "The Rocket," Frazee shows all the thrills of being on a "very big and very noisy" ride. After waiting in a giant line to get past the height checkpoint, a few adventurers hop aboard the next car and make their way up the hill: "S-l-o-w-l-y the train is pulled up the hill by a chain. Clickity, clackity. Clickity, clackity. Up. Up. Up." Down they all come with a "WHOOSH!" and head around the bends until the car comes to a stop, everyone piles out, and "at least one of them is planning to ride the roller coaster again."

A sleek book that will leave young readers aching for roller-coaster excitement, this is one rip-roarin' read! Frazee's artwork taps into the speed of the ride, and the nameless characters are fun to watch from page to page (particularly the macho guys who wind up getting the sickest). A great read-aloud that will keep any kid elated. Matt Warner

bn.com

Marla Frazee takes the reader at high velocity through a roller coaster ride from start to finish, following a little girl who isn't sure she wants to get on, with exuberant illustrations in graphite and superbright watercolors. — Jeanne P. Binder

The New York Times

"In this witty and exhilarating exegesis of a thrill ride, Frazee takes readers for a trip on a roller coaster that looks like the letter S run amok," wrote PW in a starred review. Ages 3-7. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 1-Get ready to dip, dive, whoosh, and zoom away on this delightful ride. Frazee handily captures the anticipation and excitement, as well as the fear people experience on these amusement-park attractions. The young protagonist is just tall enough to ride the colossal roller coaster, and it's his very first time. The faces of the diverse crowd waiting in line are quite expressive, and the exaggerated lines of the illustrations add to the lightheartedness of the story without sacrificing the realism. Frazee's humorous touch is perfectly suited to the simple story line, and when the ride gets going, the artist uses plenty of white space to set off the bold and exciting entertainment. The action is swift and palpable, with the text winding, dipping, and even turning upside down to follow the roller coaster's thrilling path.-Shelley B. Sutherland, Niles Public Library District, IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The most exhilarating amusement park visit since Kevin O’Malley’s Roller Coaster (1995) begins with a line of prospective riders, each drawn as a distinct individual; some look eager, or at least confident, but "at least one of them has never ridden on a roller coaster before, ever." Children will soon figure out just who that might be as, after pulling back for a look at a glorious tangle of red tracks, Frazee fills up a train, then sends it zooming, swerving, dipping, and diving through pages of empty white space. At last it pulls up, and its passengers stagger off--except for one youngster, who has lost her initial anxiety, and "is planning to ride the roller coaster again . . . right away!" Capturing both the train’s breathtaking speed and a hilarious range of rider reactions with consummate skill, the artist who made Linda Smith’s Mrs. Biddlebox (2002) and Susan Meyers’s Everywhere Babies (2001) such delights is once again in top form. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"Kids get the ride of their lives in this visual tour de force."

Parenting Magazine

"Kids get the ride of their lives in this visual tour de force."

Parenting Magazine