A Full Hand
A boy's initiation into old-time canal transport Asa doesn't know what to expect when his mother tells him it's time he made his first full hand. After all, he's only nine years old. But his father needs some help. He carries coal on his boat along the canal all the way across New Jersey, and he needs Asa to drive the two mules who pull the boat. While leading the mules along their route, Asa learns about loading at the coal chutes and the mechanisms of locks, aqueducts, and inclined planes. Finally, when a violent storm threatens the mission, Asa finds out what it really means to make a full hand. Set against a backdrop of luminous illustrations, fascinating information about old-time canal freighting is seamlessly woven into this warm and exciting father-and-son story.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0374425027
ISBN13:9780374425029
Release Date:September 2002
Publisher:Farrar Straus Giroux
Length:1 Pages
Weight:0.80 lbs.
Dimensions:0.4" x 10.1" x 9.4"
Age Range:4 to 8 years
Grade Range:Kindergarten to Grade 3
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Local history combines with a wonderful story
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
So much can be learned from this book. Obviously, a child can learn about the importance and mechanisms of canals. Additionally, there is an excellent foray into the relationship between father and son when the working world often began before the teenage years, but most importantly this book teaches us, and our children, to search our own local surroundings to learn about the history, and the people, that created it.
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