Road Trip! - by Claudia Friddell (Hardcover)

About the Book

"It's time to hit the road! After years of inventing things that other people needed, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford realize there is somthing they need-- a vacation! So, the famous inventors pack up Ford's Model T and invite their good friends Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs to come along. 'The Four Vagabonds' take to America's back roads to enjy the country's natural wonders, fireside chats, frolicking fun--and even a few new inventions. What they dont' enjoy are the reporters and admireres who disturb their peace and quiet. The trips are indeed such big news tha tmillions of Americans can't resist hitting the road for adventures all their own. Ready?"--Front cover jacket flap.

Book Synopsis

Join Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs on their pioneering camping trips during the early 1900s in this energetic and entertaining nonfiction picture-book adventure.

After years of inventing things that other people needed, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford realized there was something they needed--a vacation! So, the famous inventors packed up Ford's Model T and invited their good friends Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs to join them as "the Four Vagabonds" hit America's back roads to enjoy the country's natural beauty, fireside chats, and frolicking fun with friends--all while inspiring future generations to invent camping adventures of their own.

"Buckle yourself in as Claudia Friddell and Jeremy Holmes take you on a fun, creative, and certainly unique road trip with America's most famous vagabonds--Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs. The colorful and spirited illustrations, the stories of the Vagabond's bivouacking travels and campsite escapades, and the well-researched bibliography makes Road Trip! a great addition to any child's library!" --Matt Andres, curatorial registrar, Edison and Ford Winter Estates

Review Quotes

Texas Library Association Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List

★ "An entertaining and informative picture book describing the camping adventures of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, John Burroughs, and Harvey Firestone....This is a dynamic and engaging book to complement units on inventors, nature, and camping. It is sure to spark further exploration of these famous men in history, and presents quite a contrast with what young people know of today's founders and start-up entrepreneurs." --School Library Journal, starred review

"Buckle yourself in as Claudia Friddell and Jeremy Holmes take you on a fun, creative, and certainly unique road trip with America's most famous vagabonds--Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs. The colorful and spirited illustrations, the stories of the Vagabond's bivouacking travels and campsite escapades, and the well-researched bibliography makes Road Trip! a great addition to any child's library!" --Matt Andres, curatorial registrar, Edison and Ford Winter Estates

"Three titans of industry (and one writer) rough it... illustrations in a muted palette, reminiscent of sepia films highlighted with green and orange, help make this feel like an old-timey film. [C]hildren, especially those with an interest in history, will get a kick out of this lighthearted but informational text." --Kirkus Reviews

"(Y)ounger readers will enjoy Friddell's sprightly account of how an American supergroup--Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone (think: tires), and nature writer John Burroughs, with occasional hangers-on like (wait for it) Warren G. Harding--got together for a series of annual tours from 1914 on that took them from the Everglades to the California coast. In stylized illustrations, Holmes kits out his otherwise recognizable figures in pale faces with cheek spots, like mimes, and poses them, sometimes comically, in settings ranging from elaborately detailed workshops to spacious outdoor scenes... the book presents a colorful bit of Americana."--Booklist

About the Author

For children's author Claudia Friddell, the next best thing to time travel is discovering and sharing exciting real life stories from long ago. A former elementary school teacher, Claudia loves talking to students and teachers about the magic of bringing history to life through books. When she's not visiting schools, digging for treasure in the library, or writing at her home in Baltimore, she's reading, walking, and kayaking on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Visit claudiafriddell.com.

Jeremy Holmes is an internationally renowned children's book illustrator, whose work has received numerous awards and starred reviews from critics. He won the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award (2010) for his debut book There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. Visit jeremyholmesstudio.com.