COOL OFF AND RIDE!

A solution to a hot summer in the city.

What did people do before air conditioning was readily available? One option was Baltimore’s Cool Off and Ride Program, which, starting in 1937, encouraged people to climb aboard the streetcar at a discount, relax, and catch a breeze. Friddell’s songlike text captures the city’s various characters on this summer day: kids on the playground, the dog in the backyard, Granny and Gramps on the porch, friends in the river, Mama in the kitchen, a boy who is “a-courtin'," and a cranky baby. All are invited to “cool off and ride” in a repeated refrain. Retro illustrations capture an atmosphere of hot weather in an old-school neighborhood and show a multiracial cast of characters finding a variety of ways to cope with the weather. While the premise here will undoubtedly have local appeal, any child who has experienced summer heat will understand the need to escape it and enjoy this rhythmic, lyrical tale. Notes explain how the author discovered the program, give some facts about it, and provide a brief history of streetcars, their racial integration, and their surprising relationship to roller coasters. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gently humorous depiction of a city’s effort to beat the heat.