The Way Downtown: Adventures in Public Transit

Written by Inna Gertsberg

Illustrated by Mike Lowery

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-552-7

44 pp.

Ages 4-8

2017

I've waited too long to review this gem of a non-fiction book that can be used to teach transportation, mapping, communities and so much more.  With the stories and art blending together into a fascinating depiction of travel on water and land within the city of Zoom, The Way Downtown includes everyone and their need to get around safely and efficiently.

From The Way Downtown: Adventures in Public Transit

by Inna Gertsberg 

illus. by Mike Lowery

(image from mikelowery.com)

Dr. Brodie is our first traveller, making her way from her island home by ferry and then cycling to the museum where she works.  In addition to learning about ferries and water transport, the reader learns about cycling and bike sharing.  Young Robbie is visiting his Aunt Raisa and he travels with her by bus and subway, all the while taking photographs of the urban wildlife.  Agent Theodore Rybka is on a mission to deliver an important package.  He takes multiple train and subway rides to remain incognito and confuse would-be followers of the spy. The busking Zanies family are heading to Great Park, like all our travellers, to perform.  Though public transit aficionados, using monthly transit passes, they lose Zach along the way and learn the efficiency of relocating separated parties. Finally, Boris, the guide dog, takes his visually impaired partner Guy via sidewalk and light rail train to meet their friend Leslie.

From The Way Downtown: Adventures in Public Transit 

by Inna Gertsberg

illus. by Mike Lowery

These are but 5 stories out of a billion taking place because of public transit in the city of Zoom but they give a snapshot of how different people live their lives and get around, whether visiting, working, or playing.  Readers will learn about all manner of public transit: how to use it, what to expect, paying for it, etiquette, and more.  From Lost & Founds, to repairs that take place, as well as guide dogs, The Way Downtown is an informative and entertaining read about getting around in the city. It's a fun look at the everyday concept of travel by public transit (none of the stories have travellers in cars) to see the benefits and intricacies of urban movement from place to place. Though I might see Toronto, my hometown and the residence of author Inna Gertsberg, in the city of Zoom, I suspect that Zoom could be any and every city with multiple public transit provisions, a great park and other urban features likes hospitals, a zoo, museum and observatory.

From The Way Downtown: Adventures in Public Transit

by Inna Gertsberg 

illus. by Mike Lowery 

(image from mikelowery.com)

Mike Lowery, who illustrated Maureen Fergus's award-winning The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten (Kids Can Press, 2013) and Andrew Larsen's A Squiggly Story (Kids Can Press, 2016), gets in the busyness and complexity of an urban centre like Zoom which keeps all its people moving via many modes of public transit.  There's lots to notice and details to pick out and Mike Lowery makes The Way Downtown an urban Where's Waldo? of movement and stories being lived.  The organization of the book which resembles a graphic novel with information embedded in maps, graphic organizers and more is both inviting and comprehensive, as well as engaging.

From The Way Downtown: Adventures in Public Transit

by Inna Gertsberg 

illus. by Mike Lowery

Take a worthwhile foray into public transit, whether in a classroom with young students learning about transportation and communities (the glossary provided is worthwhile) or with your own children before a trip or to see themselves in and about their own neighbourhoods, by getting on board The Way Downtown: Adventures in Public Transit.

The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten

by Maureen Fergus

Illustrated by Mike Lowery

Kids Can Press

978-1-55453-698-6

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March, 2013

With school just around the corner (you have seen the back-to-school sales advertised already, haven't you?), many teachers and parents are starting to think about those first days and how to make them run smoothly and still be fun.  The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus and illustrated by Mike Lowery is a wonderful new youngCanLit to use in the classroom for introducing rules in a humourous context or at home to prepare little ones for their first years in school, without preaching.
 
Kindergarten can be a trying experience for both parent and child but not for the little girl who narrates The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten.  She loves school.  "It was better than a dinosaur museum, a circus, and a super-duper mega-three-scooper ice-cream sundae."  Mom on the other hand seems a little sad to see her little one go off to school.  So, her daughter politely asks if Mom would like to come inside, sensing the need to help Mom through this experience.

But Mom is so excited that she just barrels right in there.  She doesn't know that you don't barge in at the front of the line, that you take off your outdoor shoes and put them away in your cubby, that you raise your hand, wait your turn and don't shout out, that you clean up after yourself, that you use an indoor voice in the library, and that no one speaks during Story Time.  Mom has a lot to learn.  Luckily her daughter is already well versed in kindergarten protocols, and the teacher, Ms Beaudry, is very understanding and accepts that sometimes it takes a while to get comfortable with something new.  But the message is still clear.

"...school is nicer for everybody if you try to be considerate of others."

Robert Fulghum's popular essay, titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (Villard Books, 1988), still holds its truth and veracity twenty-five years later.  Maybe it's because those truths are so relevant to all persons, irrespective of age or other distinction, that the similar messages, graphically enhanced in The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten, are so universal and beneficial to harmonious relationships.  Now, if everyone could just remember those messages after they leave kindergarten, our world undoubtedly would be more equitable with less strife.  Mom certainly has all the attributes of a child in a new, inviting situation (check out her earnest expression on the book's cover) and in need of some gentle reminders about the right way to do things at school.  Fortunately, she picks up on the school etiquette, courtesy of her daughter, and realizes that maybe she shouldn't be attending kindergarten after all.  And you can bet she won't bud in line at the grocery store ever again.