Sparky

by Hardie Gramatky

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Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Bernhard August "Hardie" Gramatky, Jr. was an American painter, author, and illustrator. In a 2006 article in Watercolor Magazine, Andrew Wyeth named him as one of America's 20 greatest watercolorists. He wrote and illustrated several children's books, most notably Little Toot.

Hardie Gramatky was born in Dallas, Texas, the second of three sons born to Bernhard Gramatky and Blanche Gunner Gramatky. Ten years later, following the death of his father, his mother moved the family to the Wilmar – South San Gabriel area, a then semi-rural suburb a few miles east of Los Angeles. Gramatky attended local schools in Wilmar, and then Alhambra High School in nearby Alhambra. Displaying a precocious artistic talent, he began submitting his sketches to a "young folks section" published in the Los Angeles Times, and by the early 1920s had earned a reputation as the section's leading artist.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable book about a trolley car who has a fasinating imagination, which gets him troublr sometimes!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a kid, my librarian father used to bring back little advertising cards from book fairs. I found one in some of my old stuff that depicted a cute little trolley car. Turns out it was Sparky, "the imaginative little trolley car who somehow cannot keep his mind on his work." Sparky is the Walter Mitty of trolley cars. He is always slipping into his imagination and causing havoc. The mayor keeps threatening to turn Sparky into a diner, but in the end Sparky saves the day and is not turned into a diner.

This picture book reminded me of the classic Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. The artwork is very 1950s but adorable.