Subway

by Anastasia Suen, Karen Katz (Illustrator)

a rush of air a car is there hop, hop, hop on the subway! Come along for the ride as a little girl and her mother hop on the subway.  From spinning turnstiles and musicians performing on the platforms to people hopping off and on and lights flashing past in the tunnels, the sights and sounds of the subway have an energy all their own.  Anastasia Suen's sprightly text and Karen Katz's brightly colored patterns and lively perspectives combine for a pitch perfect celebration of an underground train ride, where the hustle and bustle is only part of the fun.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Transport, Trains, Storytime, Underground Railway

24 pages, Board Book

First published March 8, 2004

About the author

From her studio in Northern California, developmental editor Anastasia Suen reads, writes, and edits books for creators of all ages.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subway by Anastasia Suen, illustrated by Karen Katz looks at a subway journey taken by a little girl and her mother. Readers and listeners see spinning turnstiles, musicians performing on the platforms, people hopping off and on, and lights flashing past in the tunnels.

Strong rhythm and repetition drive the text. Commuters ride side by side, transfer, dance to a saxophone solo on a platform, rock and sway, experience blurs and darkness, and finally leave the train.

The illustrations are a highlight featuring brightly clad, multithnic urbanites. Details include people reading papers, a lady with her dog in her purse, a man with a bag of groceries, a teen listening to music on his earphones, and signs saying entry, transfer and exit.

This rollicking ride is sure to please, and should be a fun read-aloud and a good choice for transportation themes. It could also work as a beginning reader. Recommended!

I wonder if there's a similar London tube picture book where there's a rhyme for "mind the gap?"

For ages 1 to 5, transporatation, subways, city themes, and fans of Anastasia Suen and Karen Katz.

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

S picked this book out at the library and announced, "Oh, I've read this one before! I really like this one!" Now, I didn't have a record of it in Goodreads, but I do think he's right and we must have read it when he was little, because it looked familiar to me, too. I would have thought at 5 1/2 that he was too old for this book (I would say it's more appropriate for 2-3 year-olds). It has simple language and a lot of repetition, and Katz's illustrations always seem very baby-friendly to me. But S still enjoyed reading this, as he continues to love all things subway/train.

[Bodhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this book memroized because I have read this book to our son so many times over the last couple years. A wonderful book for kids, even ones that don't ever have to ride a subway. It gets extra points for us since we lived in NYC for a long time before our son was born. Great illustrations. Great rhythm to the story. My son and I both love how you can track the same people entering the subway all the way through the end of the book as they leave. We get to do a little search for each character on every page.

[Henessy Tolliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I strongly believe children will find this book easy to read because it is repetitive throughout the entire book. Also, the book is wrote in a musical style which I think will make children want to read the book.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this book while playing at the Smithsonian. The American History museum, to be exact. Very enjoyable. The museum staff is doing very well to keep this in the children's area.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fun book repeats sounds and motions as a group of kids rides a subway. very cute. toddler and up

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son loves this book; he is currently obsessed with trains and since we don’t live near a subway system this is a great introductory text for him.

[Miss Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird rhymes, but I like that it celebrates the subway the way toddlers do.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen Katz's illustrations are delightful as always!

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not the best picture book ever, but it's good.

[Christina Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

February is learning about the city. This felt like you were traveling by subway. The illustrations were cute and colorful.

[Amanita · Rating 2 out of 5]

You don't use tickets to enter the NYC subway.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, beautiful illustrations, and the descriptions and repeated words were so unique at times, rock and flash. A good sensory account.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this would be more engaging for a child whose world includes subways, but the verse and the five colors make it lively to listen to and see.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first heard of this book when I read Betsy Bird's Fuse 8 blog entry titled: Geoff Rodkey and Reading (Too Much) into Karen Katz. In her blog, she states, "I find that the board book Subway by Anastasia Suen (illustrated by Karen Katz) has a spy thriller vibe going on just below its seemingly innocuous surface. Doubt me? Check it out."

So I did.

As a mom, I am quite familiar with Karen Katz's work. I have read Where Is Baby's Belly Button? more times than I care to remember. And to be honest, I have steered clear of any book illustrated by her for the last seven years or so, simply for the fact that the books tend to be for very young children and our girls have aged out of them.

So, when I pulled out this book to read last night, I prefaced our reading it with the idea that we were to search for a spy thriller theme running throughout. And we paid attention to the characters and looked for anything that seemed untoward.

We were stumped.

I wanted to explain my silly behavior, so I pulled up the blog and we all watched the video together.

Ah, so now we understand. It's the mania active imagination of a (likely tired) mother of a one-year-old who has read the book way, way, way too many times and has found a way to create a more illicit tale woven throughout a very benign book about taking a subway ride. I applaud her creativity and empathize with her weariness for the next go-around with this book.

In any case, we listened to the rest of her video and her interview with Geoff Rodkey. We will certainly check out his series, The Chronicles of Egg and perhaps The Tapper Twins Go to War, too, if we can get it at our local library.

This was the first video we'd seen by this esteemed librarian/author/reviewer extraordinaire and we really liked it. She is goofy and smart and very knowledgeable about children's literature (not necessarily in that order!) I hope someday I can be even half as active and dynamic in my future career as a librarian.

Now I need to go learn more about Google Hangouts.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for little toddlers who are learning about the subway! Repeats simple action words that are key in early toddler language development (walk, down, go, rock, more, bye etc). Rhyming cadence lends itself well to singing (Miss Nina wrote a song to go with the words). Illustrations depicts all different types and races of people just like the real subway.

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book for urban young readers with strong rhythm and repetition. An African American young girl and her mom go on a trip across town on the subway. The characters on the subway are culturally and racially diverse. The illustrations are typical of Katz's folksy cartoons, but have a lot of bright energy.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my 10-month-old son's absolute favorite. There is this book, and then there are all the rest. We actually just had to order our second copy because the first is officially torn up from 10 months of love. Bright, exciting images, sing-songy rhymes, etc. My son has yet to articulate WHY he loves it. We just know he does.

[Sha-Quita Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is family oriented on a subway. A young girl and her mother enjoy a ride uptown on a city subway with people of diversity. I recommend this book because the text is rhythmic and the brightly patterned illustrations evoke a spirited ride on the underground train we call a subway.

[Edna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book - what happens step by step is described by sounds and the rhyming words of a little girls who rides the subway with her mom with simple colorful illustrations by ever-popular Karen Katz. Great read aloud book for young children!

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read at Baby/Toddler Lap Time on 8/26/11: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Baby Lap Time on 10/4/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[G. G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the illustrator used the colors to make the read so much fun. The clothes and hairstyles of some of the characters reminded me of the diversity in the city. My class is going to enjoy it,

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really like this book, but maybe that's because I'm forced to read it 10x a day. Thank god it's a library book and is due soon!

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kinda fun to experience the subway through a board book. The text had a nice rhythm to it that my 2-year-old enjoyed.

[Danie P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this story for a transportation or train storytime for toddlers and preschoolers. Excellent simple words. Bright gorgeous illustrations.

[Kiddo · Rating 4 out of 5]

FUN. I like the sing-songy text, kido likes the pictures.

[Baby Isabel]

John: A must have for Isabel so she can understand public transportation and city culture! much like Blueberries for Sal and Frog and Toad for Sofia in regards to country life =)

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baby takes a ride on the subway.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful Ones May 9, 2014
5/14/2014 wonderful ones

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl and her mother enjoy a ride uptown on a city subway.