Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a-Comin'!

by Jill Esbaum, Adam Rex

Go back in time to a sleepy Mississippi River town

The townfolk of a small village on the banks of the upper Mississippi come vividly alive at the sound of a whistle and the holler of "Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a-comin'!" The incoming vessel is filled with passengers and cargo, and at a rapid speed, things are unloaded and loaded - but before you know it, the village is once again at its previous sleepy pace.

Inspired by Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi, Jill Esbaum has crafted a skillful, spare poem, and Adam Rex has created gorgeous paintings that do homage to Norman Rockwell.  Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a-Comin'! is a 2006 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Poetry

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2005

About the author

Jill Esbaum is a full-time writer and author of I am Cow, Hear Me Moo!, I Hatched!, Stanza, and Tom’s Tweet, among many others. She lives on a farm with her husband and children in Dixon, IA.

Reviews

[Nicole Ackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fabulous story with great rhythm and pictures.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent poetry and beautiful illustrations--What more could you want? I love the way the pictures started small and got bigger until they were full spread bleeds when the steamboat docked and then got smaller again when the steamboat left. Ingenious design. You can also follow characters through the illustrations, so it tells a real story even though it's mostly a slice of time and place book. Two masters of the craft did this one.

[Memory Toast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rollicking poem, with fabulous illustrations. I felt it captured the era it was trying to tap into well.

I feel it is for a bit of an older crowd, maybe upper elementary, middle or high-school history class would be a great fit. Some kids might enjoy the rhythm and illustrations, though.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't fail to notice this, Goodreaders. Right from the title page you learn that this steamboat story is a-coming via the talents of:

Jill Esbaum, POET
Adam Rex, CRAFTSMAN

I LOVE THAT!!!!!

This really is an epic poem for young children. I call it a huge success.

[wildct2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in rhyme, what happens to a small town when the steamboat arrives. Great pictures, too.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just came across this early Adam Rex outing and my GOODNESS what a lot of painting in this book! Full backgrounds, lots of crowds, a lot of drafting, and topped off by lovely olde timey hand lettering and flourishes. Plus it's just a fun book, full of nouns and details, onomatopoeia and sensory language.
And if you like pit bulls, you'll love the poochie in this book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a-Comin'! by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Adam Rex tells and shows how a steamboats arrival and departure affects a sleepy town on the upper Mississippi River.

Rex's illustrations bring the era of steamboats on the Mississippi alive. Many people and objects are clearly illustrated. Rex draws people with very expressive features and his pictures convey action well. I enjoyed the many appearances of the dog. Naming the steamboat S. L. Clemons was a nice touch. Drawing increase and decrease in size as the action ebbs and flows.

Esbaum's rhyming text moves the story along nicely. Descriptive words like boneless, belching, fiery, churning, foaming, rubberneckers, geezers, galoots, yapping, rumpled, burly, brawny, fling, scrambling, straining, sweaty, tangling, toppling, plodding, creaking, whippersnappers, and shuffling bring the story to life. The book is well designed. I especially liked the separate test boxes listing people and objects. I recommend this evocative glimpse at life on the Mississippi when the steamboat was king. 4 star rating.

For ages 5 to 8, historical fiction, steamboats, Mississippi river, stories-in-rhyme, and fans of Jill Esbaum and Adam Rex.

[Paul Hankins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired by Mark Twain's LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI, Jill Esbaum takes readers back to the small river town where a puff of black smoke coming from down river would prompt the cry:

"Steamboat A-Comin'!"

Jill Esbaum's verse anchored by the gentle rocking of the Old Miss,

Wavelets lapping,
river wide,
mighty, ever-rolling tide.,

is juxtaposed with Rex's illustrations that show a boat floating, a community preparing, and a river continually calling all back to the rolling waves with a sense of anticipation, the in-the-moment action of loading and unloading, and finally the people saying goodbye once more to the captain and crew.

Rex's illustrations in this picture book in verse demonstrates why so many compare him to a modern day Norman Rockwell. Rex draws a little soul into each of the characters encountered in this lovely title that would work wonderfully well within a unit on the Mississippi River, Mark Twain, or the invention of the steamboat.

[Erin Ewing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a-Comin'! depicts the arrival of a steamboat in a sleepy village on the Mississippi River. The beautiful illustrations by Adam Rex show the noisy, hustle and bustle when the town is shaken up by the steamboat's arrival. I loved the rhyme and cadence in this book. It is full of rich vocabulary to start conversation with kids. About every 3 pages the text yells "Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a Comin'!" Kids will delight in 'yelling' this along with the townsfolk. Jill Esbaum's author's note shares how she was inspired to write this book from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. She shares how she "turned a page and suddenly I was standing on a stone-paved wharf in a sleepy 1800's river town." She has done the same with this book!

[Lisa Skripps · Rating 4 out of 5]

In STEEEEEAMBOAT-A-COMIN!, Jill Esbaum depicts the excitement that traveling on a steamboat down the Mississippi River during the 1800’s. Readers will be mesmerized by her rhythmic lines. Children will feel like they are watching on the shore as the steamboat pulls into the dock because of the lifelike illustrations by Adam Rex. Both the illustrations and Esbaum’s text accurately portray life during the 1800’s. The people of this sleepy town come alive as the steamboat roars up to the shores. Adults and children alike run to greet the boat. Reading STEEEEEAMBOAT-A-COMIN! made me want to live during that time period!

[Hannah Grosse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This charming book takes us back in time, and gives us a glimpse of what it was like in the 1800s when steamboats were the main means of mass transportation. People rush to see who and what will be coming off the ship, and everyone coming down off the steamboat has his or own reason for being there. There is a "good old days" type of feel to this book, and it is full of meaning and life. The images are phenomenal, and paint a marvelous picture of the past. The title is my favorite, because the way in which it is written almost lets you hear the man announcing the arrival of the boat. Jill Esbaum and Adam Rex certainly did a great job of recreating the past in a charming and vibrant way.

[Livvie Esslinger]

This book paints an exciting and lovely picture of the thrill of a steamboat arrival in a small village on the Mississippi River in 1867. It uses extremely descriptive sentences.

I loved the pictures throughout this book. The vocabulary is broad and wise, as well.

I believe this book would introduce students to new adjectives to use in their speech and writing! Also, I think the pictures are good to bring them back in time a ways.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I didn't expect to like this book because I found the title fairly annoying. But it was great! So many children's books in verse are just awful, but Jill Esbaum sticks to her meter and chooses true rhymes. The text is beautiful. The pictures are amazing, too, and I love the book design. This one is very well done.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved the rise and fall of the narrative (town is quiet, steamboat comes and there's a bustle, steamboat leaves and townspeople go back to their quiet lives) and how Rex's illustrations were incorporated.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Rex's excellent art is a really good match for this fun poem.