"Pop's Bridge" by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by C.F. Payne

Image Courtesy of: http://images.betterworldbooks.com/015/Pop-s-Bridge-9780152047733.jpg

Bibliographic Citation

Title: Pop’s Bridge

Author: Eve Bunting

Illustrator: C.F. Payne

Year of Publication: 2006

Publisher City: Orlando

Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.

ISBN: 9780152047733

Author Website: No Author Website

Illustrator Website: http://www.cfpayne.com/

Media Used for Artwork: Pastel

Awards

·         Parents’ Choice Award for Picture Books, Spring 2006

Annotation

Robert’s father is building the Golden Gate Bridge.  Though his parents say it is a team effort, Robert knows it is only his father.  It is only after a disaster that Robert comes to know the importance of teamwork.

Personal Reaction

                It is always essential for readers to hear how teamwork is essential for every aspect of life, be it personal, academic, or professional.  For older readers this book is good to reinforce what they were taught at a younger age.  Sports are now competitive for older readers, not just games.  School is even more important for them as well.  It can be easy to think how one person does something better than another.  What this picture book does is show how important teamwork is.  It was because of Robert’s father, Charlie’s dad, and many other fathers that the Golden Gate Bridge was built.  They succeeded together and suffered tragedy together.  Using an actual event to teach the lesson reinforces the point for readers.

                The mixture of caricature and realism blend well.  It is interesting how Payne makes the bridge so realistic, while the characters are almost unreal.  The bridge looks so realistic because it symbolized teamwork.  The characters are drawn as caricatures because they are suppose to represent the readers and any person they may know.  Seeing the building of the Golden Gate Bridge in illustrations was amazing to watch and breathtaking, it would make any reader wish they had been on the bridge on opening day.