Hit the Road, Jack

by Robert Burleigh, Ross MacDonald

Overview

In this delightful picture book, loosely inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, a scat-singing, bebopping jackrabbit travels across the United States and marvels at all the wonders that the country reveals—from hopping on the subway in New York City to playing a jukebox in Chicago, and from gazing at Mount Rushmore to crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Written in the rhythm and spirit of Beat poetry, Hit the Road, Jack is an exuberant story of experiencing all the country has to offer with wide-eyed awe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613124888
Publisher:	ABRAMS, Inc.
Publication date:	05/23/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Robert Burleigh has written many acclaimed and award-winning books for children. He lives with his wife in Grand Haven, Michigan. Ross MacDonald is known for his editorial illustrations as well as his children’s books. He lives in Connecticut, where he operates Brightwork Press.

Editorial Reviews

MacDonald (Grumpy Grandpa) draws a ramblin’ man—well, a ramblin’ rabbit—who crosses the country from New York City to the Golden Gate, hitching rides, sleeping in haylofts, and lingering in diners. “Lone Tree, Newton, Oskaloosa,/ Redfield, Poplar Bluff,/ A thousand names fly by—but Jack,/ There’ll never be enough.” Jack is modeled on Jack Kerouac; while he has long, furry ears and an overbite, he also has blue jeans, a snowy white T-shirt, and a story printed in typewritten letters. MacDonald’s nostalgia presents a younger, gentler America; a blue jay follows Jack everywhere he goes, the sun always shines, the land is quilted in gentle folds, and pickup trucks bump along the highway. Burleigh (The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn) has hipster jargon down: “Go bopping down South Halsted Street./ Where’s the action? What’s the news?/ Fill the jukebox up with dimes,/ Slip on your dancin’ shoes”—but it comes across as starry-eyed, not rebellious. It’s not a biography or an introduction to Kerouac’s work; instead, it’s a tribute to his spirit and his era. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 3 Up—Jack Kerouac's spirit and the feel of America in the 1950s are evoked through a "wanderlusting" hare named Jack. Bebop rhythms and playful rhymes include lines like, "A farm, a twinkling light,/While the moon plays whoopsie-doopsie/With the blackness of the night." Jack travels from New York City through the Midwest, visiting cornfields, a carnival, then Mount Rushmore and a northern mountaintop. He celebrates the desert and San Francisco's sites: "There's just one rule/For guys like you, Jack:/Never, never stop." This journey can enhance a cross-country geography lesson, but some vernacular will need explanation, including "jukebox" and "shut-eye." Certain phrases demand mature readers: "money's only something, Jack,/That gets you in a rut." MacDonald's trademark golds wash the spot-on retro scenes of vintage cars, rolled-up blue jeans, Moms in aprons, and wide-open spaces. Boomers will enjoy this glimpse into mid-20th century America, but it has limited child appeal.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

School Library Journal

What could have been straight nonfiction takes on a fanciful air when Jack Kerouac is rendered more jack rabbit than man. In an effort to make the life of Jack comprehensible to elementary-age children, Burleigh's rhyming text does double duty as both biographical ode to a great writer and paean to the country he loved. "Hey, Jack! Skedaddle! Gotta hop! / Vamoose! Take off and go! / Nose is itching, ears are twitching, / Come on! Get with the flow!" Feeling the urge to travel, Jack sets off from New York City to the countryside, seeing people, enjoying the road and heading westward all the while. With a ubiquitous blue jay companion, this Jack is a swell sport fully capable of fueling readers' desires to see the world as well. Only sometimes does the book's internal logic go awry, as when the bunnified beat passes the very human heads of Mount Rushmore. While Burleigh sells Jack's wayward spirit, MacDonald works to capture 1950s America to a tee. And though these bunny characters seem to be human from the neck down, readers will not fault the artist this child-friendly touch. Appropriately for the audience, this charmer invokes the man's spirit rather than his biography, effectively communicating the excitement of the road he held so dear. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews