- Here Comes the Garbage Barge
Way back in the day—well, 1987—before going green carried its current cachet, the Long Island city of Islip attempted to ship an enormous load of trash south for [End Page 358] burial in farmers' fields. The interment never took place, though; every possible resting place that got whiff of the approaching trash turned it away, and the barge, a sort of Flying Dutchman of refuse, sailed the Eastern shore in search of a place to dump its load. Winter offers a fictionalized version of this episode, turning the absurdity into a serio-comic tour de force. The brain trust behind the operation has been recast here as one Gino Stroffolino, an oily character who claims to "know a guy" in every possible port, but who can't seal a deal to help Cap'm Duffy of the ill-fated tugboat complete his job. Illustrations are supplied by Red Nose Studio (and kids who peek at the "How I Created the Illustrations" storyboard on the reverse of the jacket will want to know exactly who Red Nose is), and their 3-D whimsy is the perfect complement to Winter's text. Expressive heads of baked clay are mounted on bendable bodies (the Cap'm Duffy has five heads to match his shifting moods) that strike poses in settings composed of odds and ends. The result is a dramatically lit environment reminiscent of a Nick Park (creator of Wallace and Gromit) production, packed with visual delights. An introductory note that comments on the original garbage barge should inspire kids to further research, or at least to consider their own contributions to the landfill.