Here Comes the Garbage Barge

Winter, Jonathan. 2010. HERE COMES THE GARBAGE BARGE! Ill. by Red Nose Studio. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780375952180 [Suggested Grade Levels 1-3]

REVIEW
HERE COMES THE GARBAGE BARGE! provides a humorous and fictionalized account of a barge that hauled garbage from Long Island, New York in 1987. Because the landfills on Long Island are full, a barge is loaded with garbage to be hauled to another state. When the barge arrives at its destination it is turned away. For nearly six stinking months, the barge seeks a dumping ground only to be repeatedly rejected. Eventually the barge returns home and the garbage is burned. Readers will gain a greater appreciation of the illustrations once they read the detailed account about the creation of the illustrations found on the inside of the book jacket.

CONNECTIONS
This math activity will help children contextualize the weight of garbage aboard the barge. First, explore the term “ton” with children and discuss its equivalent in pounds (2,000). Next consider the average weight of various common objects (e.g., an adult male-- 190 pounds; a minivan-- 5,800 pounds; a seedless watermelon-- 15 pounds). Compute how many of each object it would take to equal 6,336,000 pounds. Allow students to think, pair, and share the following: consider a unique object, conduct a simple Internet search to provide the average weight of the object, and compute the equivalent number equal to the weight of garbage aboard the barge. Finally, encourage each student to create an illustration portraying the garbage barge hauling the object.

RELATED BOOKS
Other books about ships and boats:
Floca, Brian. LIGHTSHIP ISBN 9781416924364
Kalman, Maira. FIREBOAT: THE HEROIC ADVENTURES OF THE JOHN J. HARVEY ISBN 9780142403624
Spier, Peter. NOAH’S ARK ISBN 9780440406938

Other books about garbage:
Clark, Katie. GRANDMA DROVE THE GARBAGE TRUCK. ISBN 9780892726981
McMullan, Kate. I STINK! ISBN 9780064438360
Odanaka, Barbara. SMASH! MASH! CRASH! THERE GOES THE TRASH! ISBN 9780689851605
Zimmerman, Andrea & Clemesha, David. TRASHY TOWN. ISBN 9780060271398

By Maria Cahill