Here Comes the Garbage Barge!

Summary:

This is a great story with a historical twist to it about a huge tug boat pulling along a bunch of garbage, and the unfortunate journey of the captain who drove the boat around for 162 days getting denied from port after port until Brooklyn was finally court ordered to burn the trash down and bury the remainder.

Personal Commentary / Reflection:

Oh my gosh I absolutely loved the clay illustrations, it reminded me of "Wallace and Gromit" and tons of other great movies I've watched. I've never read a book that used that same kind of imagery, it was really entertaining! I liked how they made Mr. Stroffolino look so haggered and sketchy, kind of like a sleazy mob figure. I also liked how the author made him talk, using words like show more "da" and "dis" so you could practically hear the Long Island accent bouncing straight off the pages. What an fantastic story, with some non-fiction mixed in! It made me want to google all the names and the dates and find out the real story behind the garbage barge. In fact, I think I will right now! show less

This book was almost painful to read because the expressions on the incredibly lifelike tugboat captain were heartbreaking! His anger! His despair! And the stink of the garbage! I think this book could teach both responsibility and sustainability. I would read it on Earth Day or anytime the students were not picking up their messes... The snapshots of the places he visits were also interesting, I'm curious how the author decided what to include in the subtitle for each local. For example, Florida is "The sunshine state, home of alligators, beautiful beaches, oranges and grandparents..."

In 1987, the town of Islip, New York had a problem: While the average American produced four pounds of garbage per day, the average person in Islip produced seven pounds of garbage each day. The excessive garbage was loaded on a barge with the hopes of dumping it in North Carolina. When North Carolina refused to take it, the garbage barge proceeded on its ill-fated voyage all the way to Belize and back up to New York, meeting nothing but refusal in coastal towns along the way. Finally, after 162 days of travel, a judge decreed that the garbage be incinerated and the reduced load (down from nearly 3,200 tons to 430 tons) be buried in Islip. The problem highlighted the need for reducing garbage and increasing recycling.

This book takes show more this strange-but-true story and fictionalizes it - employing characters with silly-sounding names, accented language coming out of the mouths of characters in the various locales, and humorous language in the narrative in general. In this way, serious issues such as over-consumption and pollution can be addressed with young children while still be playful and fun. Children can also learn a bit about the geography and culture of the Americas. One of my favorite parts is how each new locale is introduced with a short summary listing some of the things that particular locale is known for (i.e., Brooklyn is the former home of the Dodgers, New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, and so on).

My other favorite part of the book is the illustrations. This book was on The New York Times list of best illustrated children's books of 2010, and it's easy to see why. Red Nose Studio illustrated the book by taking photographs of originally designed sets that used clay and found objects to create the appropriate scenes. I hope these sets are preserved in a museum some where -- not only because they are amazing but because, in keeping with the book's theme, they won't become part of the garbage problem! After all, the moral of the story is clearly written: "Don't make so much garbage!!!" show less

I didn't particularly like the use of nonstandard spelling to convey the accents of the characters. Sometimes it's done well, but here it felt hammy.

It's a good story, though. I remember the first time I thought hard about where all of our garbage goes. I imagined that in my lifetime the whole world would be one big garbage dump. Here's hoping I was just a dramatic child.

This book is illustrated amazingly. It was done by hand-built three dimensional sets that were photographed. There is incredible detail on each page. Although the story is a little exaggerated from the actual story of the garbage that needed a home, it helps children understand an important piece of this country's history. It fosters environmental awareness. This would be a great kick-off for a recycling awareness month, etc.

An amusing and accessible cautionary tale for kids that reinforces the ideas of reusing and recycling. Kids will pore over the details of the photo-illustrations with characters that look like marionette puppets. (Cap'm Duffy wearing the gas mask is particularly funny.) Will make a great read-aloud as well what with the outsized characters. ("Okay, okay," said Mr. Stroffolino. "Take da garbage back to Long Island. But I gotta coupla places you could try along da way.") Based on the true story of a Long Island garbage barge that couldn't find a place to dump the garbage, traveling down the coast and as far as Mexico before a judge decreed Long Island had to take it back.

This book tells the story of a man who is the captain of a garbage bare and his journey around the world. The layout of the book was really great as was all the design work that was put into it. The story itself was kind of lacking, and seemed a little strange to me. The strength of this book was most definitely the artwork. All the pictures were pictures of really creatively done claymation.. I thought this book was not all that great, I wasn't really captivated by the story. If there was anything to bring from this book into the classroom it would be related to the artwork, it was really creative and unique.