  | Bell in the bridge Author: Kooser, Ted | |
| Price: $21.88 | ||
Summary:
One day Charlie notices that when he strikes the bridge near his grandparents' house with a big rock, a sound like a church bell echoes into the valley and the sound of a distant bong comes back. Is the sound Charlie hears from the bridge an echo, or is someone else out there?
| Illustrator: | Root, Barry |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (03/01/16)
Booklist (04/15/16)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 04/15/2016 When Charlie visits his busy grandparents on their farm each summer, he spends his days by himself, playing along the stream, catching tadpoles, and dropping stones off the metal bridge into the water below. He’s lonely, but it’s fun when he discovers that striking the bridge’s railing with a large stone makes it ring like a big, loud bell. Every time, he hears a quieter echo of the sound. And sometimes, he hears another, distant “BONG,” like a response from someone down the valley. Although Charlie doesn’t discover who’s making the distant sound, the last double-page spread reveals a second boy with a stick, a jar of tadpoles, and a stone, hoping to meet his fellow bridge bell ringer next summer. Written with well-chosen words by America’s thirteenth poet laureate, the narrative unfolds at a comfortably easygoing pace that lets listeners feel both Charlie’s loneliness and his pleasure in discovering a mystery, if not its solution. Root’s sunlit watercolor-and-gouache paintings capture the warmth of those summer days and the beauty of the setting. A quiet pleasure. - Copyright 2016 Booklist.
