Orphan Train

By Verla Kay

Book Overview

Lucy, Harold, and David have recently become orphans and have no family left, no one to take care of them. They are living on the streets, stealing what they need to survive, like thousands of other unfortunate kids in the early 1900s. Then they get lucky. Lucy and her little brothers are welcomed into an orphanage where they get clean clothes and warm meals. But this orphanage sends groups of children to the Midwest on orphan trains. They are paraded in front of farmers who pick and choose kids they want to take home-and David is taken at one of the first stops, without Lucy or Harold. Verla Kay's celebrated verse has been called "lyrical" and "rollicking" and Ken Stark's warm, poignant paintings have been described as "as sun-dappled as a happy memory." Together, they make the plight of these orphans both heartbreaking and hopeful. Illustrated by Ken Stark

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399236139
• ISBN13: 9780399236136
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.3" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Touching story told with care

Verla Kay has an amazing ability to tell a complex story in few words. I think kids will be intrigued by this story of children sent West to be adopted by whoever shows up at the station. It caught my attention. What a lottery of fate! It's not grim or depressing, but it's not overly "sweetened", either. It's thought provoking and ends with a believable note of hope and happiness for the main characters. The illustrations really enhance the story, too.