Evoking the same kind of New York charm as favorites like The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge and The House on East 88th Street, screenwriter Ackerman celebrates a humble phone booth (still standing at 100th Street and West End Avenue) that saves the Upper West Side--and vice versa. Fellow newcomer Dalton's retro vignettes set the scene with square-jawed men in skinny ties, Girl Scouts in braids, and assorted neighborhood clowns, ballerinas, and secret agents while Ackerman explains how things used to be. "Each week, phone company workers came to clean and polish the Phone Booth, to collect the deposited coins, and to make sure that its buttons were working properly." The booth has plenty of customers until people start holding "shiny silver objects" to their ears, puzzling the phone booth and eradicating the long lines of callers waiting "just to wish their grandmas a happy birthday." An electrical storm reveals the vulnerability of the cellphone network ("Hey, does this old thing work?" a construction foreman asks, eyeing the dilapidated booth), causing the locals to reevaluate its worth. Cultural history of the best sort. Ages 5-7. (June)
“The Lonely Phone Booth, the first children’s book by Peter Ackerman, a screenwriter and playwright, takes a more intimate look at a slice of life in a New York City neighborhood. Scene-stealing illustrations by Max Dalton convey the story’s nostalgic sensibility. A story celebrating the fabric of a neighborhood, that intangible quality New Yorkers treasure.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Evoking the same kind of New York charm as favorites like The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge and The House on East 88th Street, screenwriter Ackerman celebrates a humble phone booth (still standing at 100th Street and West End Avenue) that saves the Upper West Side—and vice versa. Fellow newcomer Dalton’s retro vignettes set the scene with square-jawed men in skinny ties, Girl Scouts in braids, and assorted neighborhood clowns, ballerinas, and secret agents while Ackerman explains how things used to be. ‘Each week, phone company workers came to clean and polish the Phone Booth, to collect the deposited coins, and to make sure that its buttons were working properly.’ The booth has plenty of customers until people start holding ‘shiny silver objects’ to their ears, puzzling the phone booth and eradicating the long lines of callers waiting ‘just to wish their grandmas a happy birthday.’ An electrical storm reveals the vulnerability of the cellphone network (‘Hey, does this old thing work?’ a construction foreman asks, eyeing the dilapidated booth), causing the locals to reevaluate its worth. Cultural history of the best sort.”—Publishers Weekly
“This endearing little book straddles two technological eras in its tale of the life and times of a public phone booth on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street in New York City. The story and artwork introduce children to all the life and varied people of the big city, from secret agents to ballerinas to grandmas. Just when the last of the phone booths is to be carted away, a cell phone disaster reminds everyone that some parts of the good old days are worth keeping around. For ages 4-8.”—Foreword Magazine
“Peter Ackerman’s winning text is wonderfully complimented by Max Dalton’s retro style artwork. The art not only tells a splendid story in and of itself, but it also celebrates the colorful and diverse people who live in New York City.”—Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Review
“The Lonely Phone Booth is filled with nostalgic, colorful illustrations that bring back the era of ’60’s children’s book illustrations, which harmonizes well with the story. The Lonely Phone Booth is perfect for children age 4 and up, and will help preserve some history of communication technology while amusing and entertaining a young audience.”—Midwest Book Review/Children’s Bookshelf
Gr 3–5—On the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street in Manhattan there stands an old-fashioned phone booth, a superfluous fixture in our cell-phone world. This lonely phone booth, however, enjoys a happy ending after an electric storm shuts down the city. Finding their cell phones dead but the landlines in working order, a grateful neighborhood rallies to save the booth after a city crew threatens to haul it to the dump. Ackerman injects humor into the tale through a bevy of characters from everyday passersby (a construction foreman needing more cement and a Girl Scout calling for cookies) to the eccentric (a zookeeper looking for a lost elephant and a secret agent needing to change his disguise). Dalton adds wit and color with illustrations that are a combination of individual vignettes and full-page images. A well-paced story but probably most appealing to adults predisposed to preservation projects.—Barbara Elleman, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA
