The Horn Book Guide

HISTORY

Koehler-Pentacoff, Elizabeth

Jackson and Bud's Bumpy Ride: America's First Cross-Country Automobile Trip

40 pp. | Millbrook | April, 2009 | Trade ISBN 978-0-8225-7885-7 $16.95

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Wes Hargis. Amusing cartoons illustrate the story of the first transcontinental car trip: a 1903 adventure completed by Dr. Horatio Jackson, mechanic Sewall J. Crocker, and a bulldog named Bud. Upbeat but choppy present-tense text outlines the journey's pitfalls including mud-soaked roads and flying grasshoppers. An afterword, including archival photographs, provides historical context and information about the three characters' later lives. Reading list, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan