Nonfiction Monday: Let's Go! The Story of Getting From There to Here by Lizann Flatt, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Maple Tree Press (September 28, 2007)

Sometimes when traffic is heavily jammed on the highway during my morning commute, I take an alternate route to my Alexandria, VA office past George Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate. That leg of my route is only eight miles long and takes about 15 minutes, but I often wonder how long it took Washington to travel the same distance to do business in Alexandria. Certainly, the roads weren't paved and he didn't have a car. Did he encounter danger along the way? Who traveled with him? It makes me appreciate the fact that technology has enabled us for the most part to travel great distances quickly and safely. But it took quite a while and numerous inventions and innovations to get us where we are today.

Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Scot Ritchie tells the story of transportation from the Ice Age to today and beyond. Through the book we see the first travelers who migrate to North America on foot carrying backpacks and pulling their possessions in travois. We see European ships arriving carrying horses which become a major mode of transportation for quite some time. We see the invention of the steam engine, trains, streetcars, cars, and airplanes. How will we get around in the future? Flatt poses this question in the end. Will space travel become as common as automobile travel?

Without overwhelming readers in detail, Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here gives a fantastic introduction to all of the different modes of transportation. Readers get just enough information in the text to learn the basics about the featured mode of transportation.

For example:

"A noise up above! Machines in the air! Propeller planes skipped through the skies. Landing on lonely lakes like giant geese, bushplanes buzzed in with supplies and the mail. "

With details down to the type of clothing people wore during the time period, children will enjoy all of Scot Ritchie's vibrant illustrations that provide an even clearer picture of the different types of transportation and the people who used it. Children will also have fun finding the dog that appears in each spread.

The back of the book features a "Did You Know" section with even more information.

Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here would be an excellent resource for a social studies classroom and a great book to spark discussion.

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Be sure to check out the rest of Nonfiction Monday at Picture Book of the Day.