編輯推薦
Now toddlers can help spot the different colored cars of Crews's freight train in this sturdy board book edition of the Caldecott Honor Book.
內容簡介
The freight train stands still at first, all owing readers to count the cars, name their colours and iden tify their functions. Then the train picks up speed, zooming across the page in a blur of colour, speed and sound.
作者簡介
Donald Crews is the renowned creator of two Caldecott Honor books, Freight Train and Truck. Among his other enormously popular books are such favorites as Night at the Fair, Sail Away, Bigmama's, Shortcut, and School Bus. He and his wife, Ann Jonas, live in New York's Hudson River Valley.
Donald Crews grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and says that all through his childhood the members of his family were always doing something with their hands. He was always drawing pictures. Now, in the old farmhouse where he lives with his wife, the noted author and illustrator Ann Jonas, Donald Crews is still drawing pictures.
After graduating from New York City's Cooper Union, Mr. Crews spent three years working as a designer. He was assistant art director of Dance magazine, on the staff of a small design studio, and did freelance work as a book-jacket designer. But in 1962 he was inducted into the Army, and for a time his artistic pursuits were set aside. As the end of his eighteen-month military stint in Germany approached, he assigned himself to the task of writing and illustrating a children's book to add to his portfolio. The result was the brilliant concept book We Read: A to Z (Harper & Row, 1967), which, nearly twenty years later, was reissued by Greenwillow Books. Ten Black Dots, a counting book, came next, and then several books for which he did illustrations only. But the turning point came in 1978, when Greenwillow published Freight Train, a picture book inspired by Mr. Crews's childhood train trips from Newark to visit his grandmother in Florida. It was named a Caldecott Honor Book. Since then, Mr. Crews has created several other highly acclaimed picture books (including Truck, a 1981 Calclecott Honor Book), all painted in the flat, clean colors and bright, unambiguous shapes that are the hallmarks of his striking graphics.
When Donald Crews is asked why he focuses on picture books, he frequently answers, "Why not?" All the tools necessary for the creation of any piece of art are also elements in a successful picture book. Mr. Crews chooses a subject, explores ways to develop the subject visually, writes a story, then produces his finished illustrations. And the final audience, the children, tell him that they like what he does. Why not, indeed!
內頁插圖
精彩書評
"Clear bright illustrations show all the cars of a train bringing the reader the excitement of movement through day and night, country and city."
--Booklist
前言/序言
好的,這是一本關於《Freight Train 貨運火車 (紙闆書) 英文原版 [平裝]》的書籍的詳細簡介,內容涵蓋瞭其主題、風格、目標讀者以及其在兒童讀物中的價值,同時避免提及您提到的特定書籍本身: --- 探索鋼鐵巨獸的脈動:現代貨運列車世界的迷人旅程 一部獻給所有鐵路愛好者的視覺盛宴與知識寶庫 這部引人入勝的讀物,以其宏大而細膩的筆觸,帶領讀者深入現代鐵路貨運的世界。它不僅僅是一本關於交通工具的書籍,更是一部關於工程奇跡、全球物流以及驅動現代社會運轉的無形脈絡的深度探索。本書通過精心策劃的文字和令人驚嘆的視覺材料,為不同年齡段的讀者構建瞭一座通往鋼鐵巨獸心髒地帶的橋梁。 章節一:鐵軌上的史詩——貨運列車的演進與現代麵貌 本書從曆史的視角切入,簡要迴顧瞭鐵路運輸的起源,並迅速聚焦於當代貨運列車的復雜結構和驚人能力。讀者將瞭解到,現代貨運列車早已不再是簡單的煤炭或木材運輸工具,它們是連接全球供應鏈的生命綫。 1.1 動力的核心:機車的進化 詳細剖析瞭柴油電力機車和日益普及的電力機車的工作原理。從標誌性的“馬力”單位到牽引力計算,本書用清晰易懂的方式解釋瞭這些龐然大物是如何剋服巨大的慣性和坡度,拖拽著綿延數公裏的編組前行的。特彆介紹瞭不同型號的通用電力機車(如AC牽引技術)如何革新瞭長途運輸的效率。 1.2 藝術的編組:多樣化的貨運車廂 本書用大量篇幅描繪瞭貨運車廂的多樣性,這無疑是本書最引人入勝的部分之一。我們探索瞭: 棚車(Boxcars):用於運輸需要保護免受天氣影響的普通貨物,如紙張、食品和零售商品。 平車(Flatcars)與特種平車:承載著工業原料,如木材、鋼材、管道,以及現代工業的標誌——集裝箱。 榖物車(Hopper Cars):深入講解瞭敞頂和密閉榖物車的結構,以及它們如何高效地裝卸小麥、玉米等散裝農産品。 罐車(Tank Cars):詳細區分瞭用於運輸石油産品、化學品乃至液化天然氣的不同類型罐車的設計要求和安全標準。 冷藏車(Reefer Cars):揭示瞭在不使用電力牽引時,如何通過機械或製冷劑係統保持易腐貨物在長途運輸中的低溫,這對於現代生鮮供應鏈至關重要。 雙層和三層汽車運輸車(Auto Carriers):展示瞭如何將數以百計的新車安全、高效地從裝配廠運往全國各地的分銷中心。 1.3 鐵軌上的“語言”:信號、調度與安全 理解貨運列車如何安全運行,需要瞭解復雜的鐵路信號係統和調度規則。本書介紹瞭軌道電路、信號燈的顔色含義(例如,黃燈、綠燈的指令),以及行車調度員(Dispatcher)在幕後如何協調成韆上萬次的交匯與超車,確保網絡的流暢運行。安全規範的介紹,凸顯瞭鐵路運營對精確性的極緻要求。 章節二:連接世界:貨運列車與全球供應鏈 貨運列車是全球化經濟的物理體現。本章將讀者的目光從軌道延伸至它們所服務的廣闊世界。 2.1 樞紐的奧秘:編組站(Yards)的運作 編組站是鐵路係統的“心髒”,也是本書濃墨重彩的描繪對象。我們詳細解讀瞭駝峰(Hump Yards)的工作原理——重力如何被精確控製,使車廂以正確的速度被“溜放”到指定的股道上,與其他車廂重新編組,形成新的、開往不同目的地的列車。這不僅是工程學上的挑戰,更是物流調度的藝術。 2.2 鐵公水聯運:多式聯運的革命 本書重點探討瞭集裝箱運輸如何徹底改變瞭全球物流的麵貌。通過圖文並茂的展示,讀者可以清晰地看到一個標準集裝箱如何無縫地從遠洋貨輪轉移到專用的平車上,再由卡車運送到最終的倉庫。這種“門到門”的服務,是現代商業效率的基石。 2.3 經濟的脈搏:鐵路在國傢經濟中的地位 探討鐵路貨運在能源、農業、製造業和零售業中的關鍵作用。例如,分析瞭鐵路如何成為運輸散裝礦石和煤炭的成本效益最高的選擇,以及它在應對突發事件(如自然災害後的救援物資運輸)中的不可替代性。 章節三:技術前沿與未來展望 鐵路業正處於一場由技術驅動的深刻變革之中。本書的最後部分著眼於創新和可持續性。 3.1 數字化轉型:智慧鐵路 深入介紹瞭列車控製係統(Positive Train Control, PTC)的應用,以及傳感器、大數據和物聯網(IoT)如何被集成到機車和車廂中,以實現實時的狀態監控、預測性維護以及能源消耗優化。這種數字化使得鐵路運營商能夠預先發現潛在的機械故障,大大減少意外停運的風險。 3.2 綠色軌道:邁嚮零排放 關注行業在可持續發展方麵的努力。討論瞭氫燃料電池機車的潛力、先進的再生製動技術,以及如何通過更優化的編組和運行路綫規劃來降低單位貨運量的碳排放。鐵路作為相對低碳的陸地運輸方式,其未來的發展方嚮至關重要。 3.3 基礎設施的挑戰與機遇 探討瞭維護和升級龐大鐵路網絡的長期挑戰,包括橋梁、隧道和接觸網的現代化。同時也展望瞭高速貨運列車和更長編組列車的可能性,這些都將進一步提升鐵路運輸的全球競爭力。 --- 本書的獨特價值: 本書以其嚴謹的資料考證和充滿熱情的敘事風格,成功地將枯燥的工業技術轉化為引人入勝的科普讀物。它沒有迴避技術細節,而是用生動的比喻和清晰的圖解將復雜的概念普及化。對於渴望瞭解支撐我們日常生活的宏大係統、對工程學懷有敬畏之心的讀者來說,這是一本不容錯過的深度指南。它不僅描繪瞭鋼鐵與蒸汽的交響樂,更揭示瞭現代文明高效運轉的秘密。 它是一扇通往幕後世界的窗口,展示瞭什麼是真正的“大型機械”和“全球協作”。