Read On! Books for Students 
| Books for Students |
|
|
 recommended for Pre-K – Grade 2
 recommended for Grades 3 – 5 recommended for Grades 6 and Up available for purchase at the New York Transit Museum Store.Adkins, Jan. Bridges: From My Side to Yours. (Roaring Brook Press, 2002)
A fairly thorough look at bridges throughout history. Contains nice black-and-white illustrations and diagrams.
Baxter, Nicola. Bridges. (Franklin Watts/Grolier Publishing, 2000)
Information, facts, experiments, poems, stories and more are presented in an easy-to-read text with color photographs.
Bildner, Phil. Twenty-One Elephants. (Simon & Schuster, 2004)
Upon completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, eight-year-old Hannah enlists the help of P. T. Barnum and his twenty-one elephants to prove to her father and all of Brooklyn that the bridge is safe.
Curlee, Lynn. BrooklynBridge. (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001)
Describes the planning, construction, and history of the Brooklyn Bridge, celebrated as one of the greatest landmarks and grandest sights of New York City.
Glover, David. Building. (Two-Can Publishing, 2000)
Hands-on experiments introduce different structures, including several types of bridges, and show the materials used, the method of construction, and the source of strength.
Graf, Bernhard. Bridges that Changed the World. (Prestel Verlag, 2002)
A collection of over fifty famous bridges and their stories are gathered in this book, blending striking photos and technical details with a history of bridge-building around the world.
Hunter, Ryan Ann. Cross a Bridge. (Holiday House, 1998)
Describes different kinds of bridges, how they are built and how they are used.
Johmann, Carol A. & Elizabeth J. Rieth. Bridges! Amazing Structures to Design, Build, & Test. (Williamson Publishing, 1999)
Describes different kinds of bridges, their history, safety, dilemmas, and more. Contains lots of ideas for projects and experiments.
Landau, Elaine. Bridges. (Children’s Press/Scholastic, 2001)
Simple text and colorful photographs provide a good introduction to bridges.
Prince, April Jones. Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005)
Upon completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, P.T. Barnum and his twenty-one elephants parade across to prove to everyone that the bridge is safe.
Sturges, Philemon. Bridges are to Cross. (G.P.Putnam’s Sons, 1998)
Discusses different kinds of bridges, from train bridges to fortified castle bridges, providing examples from around the world.
Swift, Hildegarde H. The Little Red Lighthouse and the GreatGrayBridge. (Harcourt, 1942/2002)
A little red lighthouse located on the Hudson River in New York City regains its pride when it finds out that it is still useful and has an important job to do, despite the big bridge that looms above it.
[ back to top ]
Ashley, Susan. Going By Bus. (Gareth Stevens, 2003)
Readers learn about school buses, city buses, long-distance buses, and buses that have special uses, such as trolleys, double-decker sightseeing buses, and shuttle buses.
Bloom, Suzanne. The Bus for Us. (Boyds Mills Press, 2001)
Eagerly awaiting the bus on her first day of school, Tess learns the names of different vehicles from her older friend, Gus.
Fuller, Ted. Barney the Bus. (Windswept House Publishers, 1989)
Barney fears for his future when he is retired as a city bus, but then he is bought by the best owner imaginable.
Gomi, Taro. Bus Stops. (Chronicle Books, 1999)
A bus follows its daily route through the town, discharging and taking on a variety of passengers. Subtext on each page of this board book challenges the reader to find objects or people sprinkled throughout the pictures.
Gorman, Jacqueline Laks. Bus Driver. (Gareth Stevens, 2002)
Introduces the work of the bus driver, who helps people by taking them where they want to go.
Hanson, Anders. Let’s Go By Bus. (ABDO Publishing, 2008)
Simple text and photographs introduce young children to several types of buses: commuter buses, school buses, motor coaches, and double-decker buses. Hindley, Judy. The Big Red Bus. (Candlewick Press, 1995)
A bus gets stuck in a hole in the road, holding up a long line of other vehicles and the repair of the road.
Hort, Larry. The Seals on the Bus. (Henry Holt and Company, 2000)
This twist on a favorite song presents different animals – including seals, tigers, geese, rabbits, and monkeys – making their own sounds as they ride all around the town.
Kingsland, Robin. Bus Stop Bop. (Viking Children’s Books, 1991)
A packed city bus breaks down, causing complaints and grumbles until dance instructor Mrs. Betty Kettle entertains the passengers with a tap dance, to the accompaniment of her guitar-playing brothers.
Lassieur, Allison. Buses. (Capstone Press, 1999)
Discusses the inventors, history, early models, major parts, and workings of buses.
Owen, Ann. Taking You Places: A Book About Bus Drivers. (Picture Window Books, 2003)
Describes some of the things bus drivers do to help people get where they need to go.
Piers, Helen. Is There Room on the Bus? (Simon and Schuster, 1996)
A counting book in which Sam sets off in his bus to drive around the world, picking up an assortment of animals – from one lonely lion to ten bothersome bees – along his way.
[ back to top ]
Stevens, Carla. Anna, Grandpa, and the Big Storm. (Penguin Young Readers, 1998)
This novella tells the story of Anna and her grandfather, who are stranded on the Third Avenue elevated train during the Great Blizzard of 1888.
[ back to top ]
Dorros, Arthur. Abuela. (Dutton Children’s Books, 1991)
While riding on a bus with her grandmother, a little girl imagines that they are carried up into the sky and fly over the sights of New York City.
Dugan, Joanne. ABC NYC: A Book About Seeing New York City. (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2005)
This alphabet book contains photographs of objects and sights familiar to New York City kids, from hotdogs to manhole covers to subways.
High, Linda Oatman. Under New York. (Holiday House, 2001)
Depicts New York and the fascinating, bustling world that exists beneath its streets.
Jakobsen, Kathy. My New York. (Megan Tingley, 2003)
A young New Yorker takes the reader and a friend on a tour of her favorite places in the city. Contains lots of detailed illustrations and a “fun facts” reader’s challenge. Kalman, Maira. Next Stop, Grand Central. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1999)
A busy and whimsical introduction to the thousands of activities going on everyday in Grand Central Terminal.
Melmed, Laura Krauss. New York, New York!: The Big Apple from A to Z. (HarperCollins, 2005)
From the American Museum of Natural History (A) to the Bronx Zoo (Z), this alphabetical exploration of famous sights in New York City is depicted with colorful folk-art illustrations.
Moscow, Henry. The Street Book: An Encyclopedia Of Manhattan’s Street Names and Their Origins. (Fordham University Press, 1990)
This informative book is a fun addition to any study of New York City. Short blurbs provide explanations for the origins of Manhattan’s street and area names – which in turn correspond with the names of subway stations.
Mushabac, Jane and Angela Wigan. A Short and Remarkable History of New York City. (Fordham University Press, 1999)
A timeline of five hundred years of New York City history that can be read as a story, used for reference, or browsed through for fun.
Neubecker, Robert. Wow! City! (Hyperion, 2004)
Follows the excitement of a young girl’s first visit to the big city. Nice, lively illustrations and one-word descriptions (“Wow, bridge!” and “Wow, subway!”). Puck, Kevin Somers. 123 New York: A Cool Counting Book. (Duo Press, 2008)
Young readers count from 1 to 10 using some of New York’s most famous symbols: The Statue of Liberty, The Brooklyn Bridge, subway cars, yellow taxis, and more. Reiss, Marcia. New York Then and Now. (Advanced Global Distribution, 2006)
Illustrated with historic photos and matching contemporary scenes, the book provides a visual chronicle of the changes the city has undergone over time.
Also by the same author and publisher: Brooklyn Then and Now (2002)Rosten, Norman. A City Is. (Henry Holt, 2004)
An illustrated collection of poems about New York City that can be read cover-to-cover or as individual poems. Good model for students to use in composing their own poems.
Sayre, April Pulley. It’s My City! A Singing Map. (Greenwillow Books, 2001)
As a brother and sister head for the market for birthday party supplies, they sing a song describing the New York City sights, sounds, and smells they pass along the way.
Solis, Julia. New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City. (Routledge, 2004)
Provides a tour of underground New York, from sewers and water mains to railroad tunnels and abandoned subway stations to secret wine cellars built during Prohibition.
Stanley, Ed. Grand Central Terminal: Gateway to New York City. (Mondo, 2003)
Provides a history of Grand Central Terminal from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, including its construction and architecture, the role played by Cornelius Vanderbilt, and facts about railroads in general.
Takabayashi, Mari. I Live in Brooklyn. (Houghton Mifflin, 2004)
Six-year-old Michelle, who lives in Brooklyn, describes what she and her family and friends do throughout the year.
[ back to top ]
Balkwill, Richard. The Best Book of Trains. (Kingfisher, 1999)
Introduces all sorts of trains from around the world, covering different types of trains, how they are constructed and how they run, who drives them, and more.
Bee, William. And the Train Goes… (Candlewick Press, 2007)
Good for reading aloud, this story moves along with a steady rhythm, describing the passengers who occupy various cars of a colorful train, followed by the refrain “and the train goes, clickerty-click, clickerty-clack….” Brown, Margaret Wise. The Train to Timbuctoo. (Random House, 1998)
In this classic story by a renowned children's author, two trains – one big, one
little – head down the tracks for Timbuctoo.
Brown, Margaret Wise. Two Little Trains. (HarperCollins, 2003)
Two little trains, one streamlined, the other old-fashioned, puff, puff, puff, and chug, chug, chug, on their way West.
Coiley, John. Eyewitness: Train. (DK Children, 2000)
Many photos, text, and captions cover general historical information as well as topics including the signal tower, station operations, monorails, and trains of the future. Gibbons, Gail. Trains. (Holiday House, 1987)
Examines different kinds of trains, past and present, describing their features and functions.
Hillenbrand, Will. Down by the Station. (Harcourt Children’s Books, 1999)
In this version of a familiar song, baby animals ride to the children’s zoo on the zoo train. Printed music on last page.
Lenski, Lois. The Little Train. (Random House, 2000)
Engineer Small takes the little train on its run from Tinytown to the big city, passing farms, traveling over a bridge, and going through a tunnel along the way.
O’Brien, Patrick. Steam, Smoke, and Steel: Back in Time with Trains. (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2000)
A boy traces the development of railroad engines from coal to steam to diesel as he recounts his family’s experience of driving trains over the years. Pang, Alex. My First Book of Trains. (Autumn Publishing Ltd, 2002)
Trains old and new from all over the world are explained with simple text and realistic illustrations. Piper, Watty. The Little Engine That Could. (Platt & Munk, 1976)
This classic recounts the story of a valiant little engine that comes to the rescue of a stranded train.
Prince, Joshua. I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track. (Sterling Publishing, 2006)
Lively, rhyming text tells the story of Jack, a railroad switchman, who frantically tries to save an ant heading east on a westbound track, straight into the path of an oncoming freight train. Simon, Seymour. Seymour Simon’s Book of Trains. (HarperCollins, 2002)
Offers information and photographs on various types of trains – from steam locomotives to diesel trains to subways to high-speed trains. A series of spreads on the freight train details different kinds of cars. Tiner, John Hudson. Trains (Let’s Investigate). (Creative Education, 2004)
An easy-to-understand, comprehensive overview of the history and uses of railroads. Nice photos throughout and fun tidbits of information in the margins. Weitzman, David. Locomotive: Building an Eight-Wheeler. (Houghton Mifflin, 1999)
Text and detailed illustrations explain how an eight-wheeler was built, following the construction process from the draftsmen’s first drawings to the beautifully crafted locomotive made for rapid passenger service.
Yepsen, Roger. City Trains: Moving through America’s Cities by Rail. (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993)
Traces the history of the various types of public transportation used in cities, including horsecars, streetcars, trolleys, cable cars, subways, light rails, and monorails.
[ back to top ]
Burton, Virginia Lee. Maybelle the Cable Car. (Houghton Mifflin, 1997)
Maybelle loves to carry people up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco, until the city fathers decide that she should be taken out of service in the name of progress.
McMillan, Bruce. Grandfather’s Trolley. (Candlewick Press, 1995)
A little girl remembers trolley rides with her grandfather, who was a trolley conductor.
Meyers, Stephen L. Manhattan’s Lost Streetcars. (Arcadia Publishing, 2005)
Chronicles the finance, political pressures, and advancing technology behind Gotham’s streetcar networks from 1890 to 1935.
Middleton, William D. The Time of the Trolley: The Street Railway from Horsecar to Light Rail. (Golden West Books, 1987)
An excellent general study, in words and pictures.
Sandler, Martin W. Straphanging in the U.S.A.: Trolleys and Subways in American Life. (Oxford University Press, 2003)
An illustrated look at how the problem of moving large numbers of people within cities has been addressed through a series of vehicles and systems, from horse-drawn cars to the modern subway.
Spector, Rachel S. Tilley the Trolley. (R.S.S. Publishing, 1997)
A children’s story based on historical fact. The story revolves around a trolley car which operated in Connecticut but was retired from service as a result of progress. It takes a lost little boy to help discover her and a knowing fireman to help them both realize the values of preserving history.
[ back to top ]
Benson, Kathleen. Joseph on the Subway Trains. (Addison-Wesley, 1981)
A novella about eight-year-old Joseph, who gets separated from his class on a trip from Brooklyn to Manhattan by subway.
Brenner, Barbara. Barto Takes the Subway. (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961)
This classic follows the travels – in both story and photographs – of a young Puerto Rican boy taking his first subway ride.
Brimner, Larry Dane. Subway: The Story of Tunnels, Tubes, and Tracks. (Boyds Mills Press, 2004)
Highlights the early days of subways, when they were first imagined and constructed.
Cohen, Miriam. Down in the Subway. (Star Bright Books, 2003)
A routine summer ride on the subway is transformed into a brief, toe-tapping Caribbean holiday in this animated tale. Cudahy, Brian J. Under the Sidewalks of New York: The Story of the Greatest Subway System in the World. (Fordham University Press, 1995)
A thorough history of the subway system, from the first short IRT loop to the extensive network of today.
DuTemple, Lesley A. The New York Subways. (Lerner Publications Company, 2003)
Nice overview of the history of the subway system, discussing the politics involved, how it was financed, the men who built it, and the construction techniques.
Hest, Amy. Jamaica Louise James. (Candlewick Press, 1996)
On her eighth birthday, Jamaica receives paints which she uses to surprise her grandmother and to brighten the subway station where Grammy works.
Jacobs, Paul DuBois and Jennifer Swender. My Subway Ride. (Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2004)
Relates the sights and sounds of a subway ride through the boroughs of New York City.
Lassieur, Allison. Subways. (Capstone Press, 1999)
Explores the world of subways, discussing their inventor and history, how they work, what it is like to travel on them, and how early models compare with modern ones.
McNeese, Tim. The New York Subway System. (Lucent Books, 1997)
Chronicles the history of the subway system from its construction to the mid-1950s.
Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Mim’s Christmas Jam. (Harcourt, 2001)
When Pap goes away to build the New York City subway in 1915, his family sends him Mother’s special jam which works magic in returning him home to celebrate Christmas.
Reid, Barbara. The Subway Mouse. (Scholastic, 2005)
Nib the subway mouse leaves his underground home and journeys along dangerous subway tracks in order to find Tunnel’s End: a beautiful, roofless world he has heard stories about.
Santella, Andrew. Building the New York Subway. (Scholastic Children’s Press, 2007)
Interesting text and photographs chronicle the construction of the subway. Seeger, Pete and Paul Dubois Jacobs. The Deaf Musicians. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006)
Good for reading aloud, this rhythmic story is about Lee, a jazz pianist who loses his hearing but is able to put together his own snazzy band of deaf musicians who perform for audiences in the subway. Suen, Anastasia. Subway. (Viking, 2004)
Catchy verse tells the simple story of a little girl and her mother riding uptown on a New York City subway.
Torres, Leyla. Subway Sparrow. (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1993)
Although the passengers on the D train speak different languages, they work together to rescue a frightened bird trapped in a subway car.
Walker, Pam. Subway Rides. (Scholastic, 2000)
Photographs and simple text describe a subway ride, including walking down into the station, going through the turnstile, waiting for the train, riding inside the crowded car, and waving to the conductor after exiting.
Weitzman, David L. A Subway for New York. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005)
Text and detailed illustrations focus on the process of constructing the New York City subway system at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Winget, Mary. Subways. (Lerner Publications Company, 2007)
Simple text and nice photographs – many of New York – introduce subways to young children. Includes a diagram of parts of a subway and fun facts about subways. [ back to top ]
Church, Andrew and Amanda. Transportation. (Steck-Vaughn, 1999)
Describes different modes of transportation developed in different areas of the world, with special emphasis on their environmental consequences.
Dotlich, Rebecca Kai. Away We Go! (Harper Festival, 2000)
Simple rhyming text and pictures show a variety of ways people can get from one place to another.
Geist, Ken (editor). Let’s Go! 4 Easy-to-Read Books. (Scholastic, 2005)
This level-1 reader (simple words, short sentences) contains four transportation-themed stories, bound together in one book. Loomis, Christine. Rush Hour. (Houghton Mifflin, 1996)
Fun, rhyming text describes the hustle and bustle as people rush to work in the morning and home again at night, taking trolleys, subways, bikes, ferries, vans, and more.
Luciani, Brigitte. How Will We Get to the Beach? (North-South Books, 1999)
Roxanne takes many different types of transportation to reach the beach on a beautiful summer day.
Roy, Jennifer Rozines and Gregory Roy. Shapes in Transportation (Math All Around). (Benchmark Books, 2007)
Two and three-dimensional shapes are introduced through photographs showing such things as circles on stoplights, triangles in bridges, and cylinders in tanker train cars. Vogel, Amos. How Little Lori Visited Times Square. (HarperCollins, 2001)
Tells the story of little Lori, who attempts many modes of transportation in order to reach Times Square.
Walton, Rick. Bunnies on the Go: Getting from Place to Place. (Harper Collins, 2003)
A bunny family takes a trip using many different types of transportation, including car, train, balloon, ferry, and airplane.
Will, Sandra. Transportation Inventions: From Subways to Submarines. (Bearport Publishing, 2006)
Each page presents the question Which came first? followed by two choices, such as steamboat or stagecoach, cable car or subway, train or bus. Answers are accompanied by explanations and photographs. Also included in the book are a timeline of transportation inventions, glossary, and “just the facts” page. [ back to top ]
Hunter, Ryan Ann. Dig a Tunnel. (Scholastic, 1999)
Describes a variety of tunnels, how they are built and how they are used.
Landau, Elaine. Tunnels. (Children’s Press, 2001)
Clear text and photographs depict the construction and use of various tunnels around the world.
Parker, Steve. I Wonder Why Tunnels Are Round and Other Questions About Building. (Kingfisher, 1995)
This question-and-answer book covers construction aspects of buildings, bridges, and tunnels.
Pearson, Debora. Hidden Worlds: Amazing Tunnel Stories. (Sagebrush Education Resources, 2002)
Presents several intriguing stories of tunnels past and present from around the world, from the aqueducts of the ancient Romans to the great escape tunnels of WWII prisoners of war to Chicago’s miniature underground train system used to deliver coal to the basements of buildings a hundred years ago.
[ back to top ]
recommended for Pre-K – Grade 2 recommended for Grades 3 – 5 recommended for Grades 6 and Up available for purchase at the New York Transit Museum Store. |
|||||||||||
