Roller Coaster

by Marla Frazee

From Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator Marla Frazee, a thrilling picture book that takes readers up, up, up to the highest point of a roller coaster, where no book has ever gone before! Wheeeeeeee!

This exhilarating amusement park visit begins with a line of prospective riders, eagerly awaiting their turn . . . with at least one person who has never done this before. Zooming, swerving, dipping, and diving, this delightful story featuring a breathtaking ride and a hilarious range of reactions, will help readers lose their roller coaster anxiety. Marla Frazee’s witty narrative and slyly building of tension delivers an experience unlike any other and will have readers begging to take another ride.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Summer, Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Humor

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Marla Frazee was awarded a Caldecott Honor for All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever and the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Picture Book for The Farmer and the Clown. She is the author-illustrator of Roller Coaster, Walk On!, Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert, The Boss Baby, and Boot & Shoe, as well as the illustrator of many other books including The Seven Silly Eaters, Stars, the NYT bestselling Clementine series, and God Got a Dog. Marla has three grown sons, a Little Free Library in her front yard, and a studio in her back yard under an avocado tree.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute! I love Marla Frazee's illustrations and her penchant for detail, humor, warmth and diversity is all on display here as a little girl prepares for her first ride on roller coaster. It's great how the story focuses on her, yet you also get to experience how many other people approach a ride on the roller coaster. (I got a chuckle out of the buff, manly-man chickening out at the last minute; and loved the adorable elderly couple and the sweet young Asian couple on the roller coaster ride). Recommended for Marla Frazee fans or for young readers who love roller coasters or who might wonder what a ride on the roller coaster is like.

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out more Picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

People line up to ride a roller coaster and the reader gets to follow a little girl as she goes through the whole process.

We picked this book up because of the topic and the cover art was cute. We arrive at the amusement park where the roller coaster dominates the scene. A little girl and her dad are the focus of the book as she has never ridden on a roller coaster before. There is this subtle sense of anticipation that is also tinged with a bit of fear. As she and her dad take each step forward to actually loading into the car to ride the coaster she becomes more comfortable with the idea of actually riding it.

The illustrations are good and I liked how many of them are framed but I thought they would wow me more. It isn't that they aren't showing the story in a good way but turning each page didn't seem to change much. I didn't get an organic sense of something happening and of people moving which is an odd feeling for a book about a roller coaster. In the end the girl did something new and enjoyed herself. I liked the message of the book which was subtle and not directly pointed out.

My nephew loved the actual spreads where the people were on the ride with the noises that the car and people make as they whip by. Each book we read together he chooses a spread to redraw. He chose the upside down spread and did a cute job replicating it. We chuckled together over the muscled guy who refused to ride it and his friends who were sick afterwards. We talked about the two black girls who really were enjoying themselves as well as the little girl who went of the roller coaster for the second time.

BOTTOM LINE: It's good to try new things...

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You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the fun of riding a roller coaster! I have been dragged kicking and screaming onto many coasters in my life (figuratively speaking, of course!) and I really do find the story kind of coaster much more fun! This was a fun book for both roller coaster enthusiasts and anyone looking forward to being old enough or tall enough to ride one. Lots of action in this story; the illustrations capture the excitement of the hills, turns and loops very well! This book really brings back the feeling of being in an amusement park on a sunny summer day!

[R. L. Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for amusement park lovers 😂

[Lily Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book by Marla Frazee. I have seen it mentioned on many mentor texts lists but I had never read it. I can now see why it is recommended by so many.
This book is all about one roller coaster ride. Now, it might seem borning to read a book about one roller coaster ride, but Marla Frazee makes this story exciting and exhilarating. She is able describe every detail of the ride, starting from waiting in line, all the way to wanting to ride again when it is over. The illustrations are also very detailed and add so much interest to the story.

This book would be a perfect mentor text for writing workshop. I could use this to show students how to narrow in on a topic and really provide detail for the beginning, middle, and end to their story. It would help students realize that they do not need to have many topics to make a story exciting and engaging.

[Carolynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Marla Frazee! I first encountered her work in _A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever_ (Caldecott Honor Book), which was a wry, humorous look at sleepaway camp, and just today have read _Hush, Little Baby_ and this one. The story is simple--a brave little girl and her Dad get on a roller coaster along with a bunch of other people. But the design of the book is splendid: without setting foot in an amusement park you feel the swirls and whirls and swoops of the roller coaster and by the end of the ride you feel you know the other riders without a word of dialogue: There are the two burly guys whose stomachs don't travel at the same speed as the coaster (I'm trying to put this politely), the little guy who loses his propeller cap, the affectionate young woman who wears a hat with antennae, the giggling dark-skinned twins and the older couple fresh off the farm whose joy at the ride is unalloyed, and our intrepid heroine, barely tall enough to make it on the ride, whose VERY FIRST roller coaster ride it is. Children will enjoy following the characters, even some of those who do not make it on the coaster, throughout the book.

[Jim Erekson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is right up there with the best visual work I've seen from Marla Frazee. She isn't at her strongest when she's in charge of both words and pictures, but her best visual strengths are clear for me in this book. A cinematic, almost IMAX picturebook! In her first two pages she gave me no less than sixty-nine unique figure drawings. On the next page turn, she pulled out all the stops and gave me the expanse of a full coaster filling the spread. The back and forth between the figures and the dynamic guiding lines is amazing. She either used the whole spread to contain something expansive, or else suggested the expanse by framing things to bleed off the edge of the page. A lot of fun to look at repeatedly.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I love roller coasters and I enjoy bringing kids for their first rides.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the expressions on the characters faces. The illustrator captures the expressions so well.

[Shelbi St · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Roller Coaster" by Marla Frazee is a picture book with minimal water color and pencil cross hatching in which shows how a roller coaster experience may be for different people. The picture book includes double page spreads of the massive roller coaster to show the size of the ride to young kids who may never been on one. I remember reading this to a Pre-k class in which we re enacted the ride and made the sounds as the roller coaster went up, down, and around. This picture book included a very engaged reading to these young students. The picture books pictures reinforced the text very well in which the readers could actually tell when the roller coaster would "zip and zoom" . I chose this book to review because I recently read the poem, "Song of the Train" by David McCord. If I was in the preschool setting today this would have been a great opportunity to not only introduce the art of the picture book but also introduce a poem to follow with. "Roller Coaster" is a great book to read to young children because they have seen rollercoasters and if they have not then this is a great opportunity to learn about one. Young children may not be tall enough to ride a roller coaster but by reading a book like this it sets up expectations for the children to know what a roller coaster does and how it is so that it may not scare them the day that it comes time to ride one. Marla Frazee's art work is minimalistic but it is very detailed by the fact that it shows the long lines of people waiting for the roller coaster, talks about the emotions of the people waiting in line by not only the text but also the art, and by sounds that can be seen through the pictures.

[Madeline Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picture Book One and Read out loud book:

I found this book at the Lexington Public Library in the children’s section. “Roller Coaster” is the story of twelve people who set aside their fears to ride a roller coaster. One of the passengers has never even ridden a roller coaster before! This book can give students an idea of what it is like to ride a roller coasters and some of the emotions that can come with it. This book was very creative and fun for me as a reader. I think this book would be great for a classroom full of students around first, second, or third grade even! “Roller Coaster” could be used for older grades to show the usage of the sound words for writing. This book is funny, full of expression, and draws you in with the colorful and lively illustrations. It also has a wonderful message about facing fears and conquering them. The illustrations were vibrant and I loved that it showed the many different loops and turns of the roller coaster track. I enjoyed looking in the background of the pictures and finding interesting things that were little surprises! The cover of this book is what grabbed my attention and was why I picked this book up. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and think this could be a great picture book for children of many ages! I choose to read this book for my read our loud because of the sounds and illustrations being so detailed and diverse!

[Adrienne Riter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roller Coaster, written by Caldecott honor winning author/illustrator Marla Frazee, takes readers on a journey of excitement, adrenaline, humor, and fun as the main character anticipates, rides, and reflects on her experience with one of childhood's most notorious memories - her first roller coaster ride! From waiting in the long line, to the anticipation as the roller coaster creaks up to the highest point, to the variety of after effects, Marla Frazee uses stylized font, action words, detailed illustrations, and emotional language to make the reader feel as though not only the main character, but they themselves, are in the pages of this wonderful picture book!

Roller Coaster is an excellent example of a “small moment” story that could be used as a wonderful mentor text for a writing unit on Personal Narratives or “Small Moment Stories” for lower elementary grades. When teaching personal narrative writing, students are encouraged to pick a specific moment in time from their lives to write about, but they often do not understand what that means. Students tend to write stories that include too many moments or span too much time by including events from a whole day, entire vacation, or getting sidetracked into entirely new events, but Roller Coaster is a perfect example of what to do instead. It stays within this one specific moment, riding the roller coaster, without including other events that children might feel inclined to add to their own writing, such as the next ride they went on, the car trip back home, etc. Using this as a mentor text could help student to understand exactly what “staying in the moment” means.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of people get in line for the roller coaster. And for one of them, it is their first time. Will the riders like it or hate it?

Readers have to take the clues from the text to figure out that the little girl in line with her father (presumably) is the first time rider. It is up to readers to interpret body language of the riders in the illustrations to figure out how they are all feeling about the experience in line, then along the various parts of the ride, and at the end. I loved watching the two big buff guys who laughed at their friend who got out of line before the ride started as well as the older couple sitting right behind the girl. Those 4 add a lot of humor to the tale. A first roller coaster is a right of passage that isn't covered much in literature of any kind, and Frazee brilliantly captures that in this picture book with a fabulous combination of text and illustrations that complement each other splendidly. Other than being a fun story, I can see the body language variety being great for kids learning how to read emotions on others.

[David]

The magic of this book is that the text and the illustrations very accurately and joyfully depict the suspense and thrill of taking a rollercoaster for the first time. The book precisely contains itself within the phases of waiting in line, boarding the rollercoaster, the quickness of the ride itself, and then exiting - nothing more, nothing less. The illustrations have Norman Rockwell style details of the variety of people in line for the roller coaster. Another fun aspect is that although by the end there is sort of a focus on one pair of the passengers a reader can follow any of the roller coaster passengers as they are mixed in within the line and finally as they ride and react to being on the roller coaster. The simplicity of the story made it engaging and exciting for my 4 year old and the depth of the illustrations made it engaging for me.

[Kayley King]

I really liked this book because it reminded me of when I first wanted to ride on a roller coaster. It was honestly a lot like this girl's experience and it was fun to read. I also really liked the way the author was creative in the orientation of the writing when the part of the book was about actually riding the roller coaster. She made the words twist and turn and flip upside with the movement of the roller coaster. I also really liked the colored pencil drawn pictures, they were really fun to look at and they were really well done. I think this would be a great book to use for having kids write about an experience that scared or intimidated them like the situation that main character was in, in the book.

[Steve Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've long used this book to connect with young students - it shows/tells of a very similar and engaging experience for them - and then get them thinking of the physics behind such a fun and frightening adventure. We spend time within our standards on forces and motion, and of course, gravity, and this fun tale gets the topic up for discussion in exciting ways.

As a picture book. this one has wonderful, witty details. This one can certainly be enjoyed and discussed without reading any text. I also find this book to be commonly in hands throughout the year because of the fun content, and sometimes kids just want to have something that gets them thinking of good times and fun moments.

[Ma Jiani（Marjorie） · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second picture book Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee. This is a very narrative picture book: A roller coaster ride, from waiting to board the classic summer experience that was very close at the end of the line, the perfect detail was captured on the pages of this exuberant picture book. There are potential drivers in the book, all displayed in unique details, waiting to start a roller coaster on a playground line. There is a young girl waiting for visible fear. After passing the height requirement, she hesitated before boarding the plane, but responded to her father's smile and encouraged his hand. The simple text perfectly complements the detailed illustration.

[April Meehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book to a few 2nd-4th grade classes and they loved it! We discussed roller coasters and theme parks experiences throughout the book.

It’s a super fun read and Frazee really does a wonderful job of describing all of the feelings you have while riding a coaster. When I turned to the page of the big coaster, all the kids gasped! The illustrations are so lifelike, yet cute and cartoony as well. The kids got such a kick out of looking at all the different characters on the coaster…especially the couple smooching in the back car! LOL!

This is a book I will definitely read to students again!

[Debs Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is soooooooooooooo much fun. Marla Frazee made this simple story fun to read and to listen to. All the kids I've read it to want me to read it again. The story is well said, but also written out in a way to help tell the story, much like poetry. The kids and I love looking at the story, as told through the illustrations. The artists is superb. It's fun to look at the people in line and discuss who is displaying what emotions and how they feel about the ride. The story has no proper nouns, it's simply about a roller coaster, the illustrator tells the story about the riders. Delightfully done by author and illustrator.

[Marjorie Ingall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both my kids looooooooooved this. As ever, there's so much to look at in Frazee's illustrations! She draws expressive people so well, and there are entire (implicit) stories starring many of the characters waiting in line for the coaster; pay attention to their outfits, relationships, anxieties. Deceptively rich, and as with Everywhere Babies, tons of diversity of all sorts, presented casually. Prepare to do lots of screaming as a read-aloud, FYI.

This book reminds me of the viral video of the dad making a roller coaster for his daughter out of a laundry basket on his knees.

[Kelsey Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book informs you what its like to ride a roller coaster. This book tells you about some of the feelings people have while riding a roller coaster. I think this book was very creative and fun! I liked the pages where the author and illustrator work together to show the many different turns and loops of a roller coaster. I think you could read this book before going on a trip to an amusement park or fair. I think this would be a fun book to read to younger aged kids especially if they have never been on a roller coaster before.

[Carolyn Jeziorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a read aloud for grade two students who were studying motion, forces, and simple machines and found this book. It was a fun story, and very relatable as most of the students had been on a roller coaster. They made connections to the forces of the coaster compared to those in a turning car (how you get pulled the opposite way you are turning). The people’s faces and actions during the ride are hilarious.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the emotions that are on the faces of the people as they get ready to ride the roller coaster, ride the roller coaster and get out of the roller coaster. I love that this book walks you through the whole roller coaster experience. I love that it shows when people can decide not to ride and when they can't. I love that this book shows that any type of person can enjoy and can not enjoy the roller coaster. How old you are or how big your are doesn't really matter.

[keirsten chaffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book keeps readers/listeners engaged with all the illustrations. Some pages flip upside down with the roller coaster & you have to turn the book to read it, which was super fun! The pictures in Roller Coaster would be a great way for children learning to use context clues to practice making educated guesses! There was also a lot of fun onomatopoeia in this book that kids would probably love to shout.

I think this book would probably be good for children ages 5-10.

[Chancela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is funny, full of expression, and draws you in with the colorful and lively illustrations. It also has a wonderful message about facing fears and conquering them. Curriculum-wise, it provides many wonderful examples of onomatopoeias, which is useful in 3-5 grades, depending on your school.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my second graders today. It helped them understand text to self connections because the majority of them had been on a roller coaster and those who hadn’t even had a page to connect to. It is a good mentor text for narrative writing and focusing in on a small moment to write about.

[Jeremy Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so fun! It portrays the entire experience of a roller coaster, showing different people's reactions to it. The drawings are perfectly done, bringing the reader along for the ride. It's a terrific book.

Younger kids would absolutely love this book. It shows diversity in a community, and is a very fun and exciting read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Describes the experience of riding a roller coaster while talking about the people in line. Keeps talking about "one person" in line. Readers infer from the picture that the one is the little girl with her dad who rides in the front row. A good summer break book or a "I am finally tall enough to ride the roller coaster" book.

[Abby Ambrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lexile: 490L
DRA: 18
Six Traits: Presentation
I really like this book. It's simple in content and plot, but it's presented in a visually interesting way that really engages the readers. The book is nothing outstanding without the illustrations, but with them it is such a fun book that encourages students to use fun language.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really cute book and a great mentor text for writing personal story narratives. I also like it because it supports small moment writing and text/writing features that students will love will love to emulate, such as dashes to stretch out words, capital letters to place emphasis on words, and using sounds words like “wooosh”.