Module 6/Historical Fiction/July 7-July 13

Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter
 Illustrated by Red Nose Studio

Summary

Over 3,000 tons of garbage was sitting and stinking in Islip, Long Island so it was up to some men to decide what to do with it.  The plan they came up with to deal with the trash was to load it onto a barge and ship it to a place that could handle that much waste.  However, the barge made its way around the world and no one would take the nasty mess.  The captain drove over 6,000 miles in his tugboat stopping at port after port trying to get someone to take the trash.  Ironically, he ended up back in New York where the trash was burned in Brooklyn and then buried in a landfill in Islip.  The captain then drove away on his tugboat, trash free. 

My Impression

My favorite part of the book were the illustrations.  I thought Red Nose Studio did an amazing job illustrating with clay.  I enjoyed the story because of the tongue-in-cheek way it was told.  I think children would love the humor in the story while getting history at the same time.  It is not a book I would read over and over, but if doing a unit on recycling or disposal of trash, I would definitely use this book.

Reviews and Awards

"A stinky story never seemed so sweet. Winter tackles the true-life tale of the 1987 Garbage Barge fiasco in this entirely amusing mix of fact and fiction. When the city of Islip on Long Island ends up with too much garbage, some businessmen (merged into a single character here named Gino Stroffolino) decide the best solution is to ship it to a distant Southern contact. Trouble arises when the barge and stalwart Cap’m Duffy St. Pierre find themselves turned away at every port. From North Carolina to Mexico, from New Orleans to Belize, nobody wants the garbage—all 3,168 tons of it. The author has fun with this story, and his jovial tall-tale tone is well complemented by the eye-popping clay models provided by Red Nose Studio. The garbage in this book doesn’t just stink—it oozes and melts in the hot summer sun. A fantastic combination of text and image, this is sure to give the barge and story the infamy they deserve for a generation far too young to recall either the actual incident or the bad old days before we all recycled. (Picture book. 4-8)."

(2010, Jan. 15).  [Review of the book Here comes the garbage barge].  Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jonah-winter/here-comes-the-garbage-barge/.

Suggestions for Use

*Have a field trip day where children volunteer to pick up trash around the community

*Adopt an area of the highway sponsored by the library and go once a month to pick up that section