Jackrabbit McCabe and the Electric Telegraph [Hardcover]

The fastest man in the West meets his match in this deliciously clever original tall tale. With his extra-long legs, Jackrabbit McCabe can outrun anything on the American frontier: horses, trains, and even twisters. So of course, everyone in the town of Windy Flats always counts on his speed when a message has to get out fast. Then something new comes to town: the telegraph, which can send Morse code messages with the speed of electricity. At first, no one believes the newfangled contraption can deliver a message quicker than Jackrabbit. . . . But in a race between man and machine, who will be left in the dust?
 
An author's note includes information about the invention of the telegraph, a Morse code key, and a riddle written in Morse code for kids to transcribe.

A strikingly accomplished debut.... A terrific tall tale about the costs and opportunities of technology. —Publishers Weekly, Starred

Good, quick-moving fun. Kids may marvel that communication existed before the telephone and Internet. —Kirkus Reviews Rozier makes a strikingly accomplished debut; her appropriately brisk prose has the perfect blend of folksy lilt and knowing wink. Espinosa is just as successful: his crisply angular drawings, comic expressiveness, and cinematic framings bring to mind Chuck Jones’s classic 'Dover Boys' cartoon. It’s a terrific tall tale about the costs and opportunities of technology, and it may assuage a few parents worried about its impact on their own offspring’s future employability” —Publishers Weekly, Starred

Readers will find that the story, written in folksy terms and rhythms, clips along at a fast pace, and the fittingly retro illustrations are filled with action, energy, and good humor. Occasional changes in typeface and size add to the excitement of the telling. The backmatter includes a helpful historical author's note, a Morse code key, and a riddle in Morl“W