I have heard about Galloping Gertie most of my life. I have been over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge many times and thought “wow that is a long way down!” I can only imagine how much worse if it would have been if the bridge moved like a roller coaster. While there are videos and Discovery channel documentaries that can be watched, this book puts the story in a child’s perspective, and what they thought when the bridge collapsed. This book is extremely well done. It was entertaining and engaging at the same time. This will be a staple in libraries for a long time to come, even if one does not live in Washington State.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Galloping Gertie is an illustrated picture book for children about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and its collapse.
The story is non fiction and based on the true events of what happened.
The story follows a little boy who walked across the bridge one day with his Mum. Some time after this the bridge was hit by a huge storm and the wobbling of the bridge (which was how it was made to be) became more than just the normal swaying and bobbing and it began to crack, break and crumble.
The book shows two men who were in the midst of this and managed to get off the bridge and to safety.
It mentions a dog in a car. It's owner left it in the car to get across the bridge with I found sad as it never mentioned that the dog got rescued.
This book is probably best aimed at children over the age of 9 as younger children may fear bridge's after reading this book and not understanding the concept of time.
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A really interesting topic that's well researched and written, but I'm not sure that the color palette is super appealing for kids.

'Galloping Gertie' by Amanda Abler with illustrations by Levi Hastings is a picture book about a young boy and a famous disaster.

A young boy named Dale and his family walk across a new suspension bridge when it opens in 1940. The bridge kind of rolls under their feet as they walk, but as they soon find out that shouldn't be the case. The bridge was the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, also known as Galloping Gertie.

This story did a good job of mixing story and science. Also, even though this was a tragedy, it's not portrayed as too scary. The illustrations are really top notch too.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Sasquatch Books, Little Bigfoot, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Yesterday our family had the interesting experience of attending the opening ceremony of a new bridge nearly within sight of our home, and walking across it after the ribbon was cut. That made it a very appropriate time to read Galloping Gertie, which I came across a few days ago. I read it aloud to my children this evening, and they found it quite an interesting story. A number of years ago, they had watched a video of this bridge falling apart, and one of my sons actually learned about it when he did an engineering course.
Dale lived near the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington when it was first built in 1940. In fact, he could see the bridge from his house. He enjoyed the experience of walking across the bridge soon after it was opened, but wondered why it bounced up and down so much. Many other people wondered, as well.
Only a few months later, just four months after the bridge opened, a strong wind started one night. By morning, the bridge was really whipping around, and the decision was made to close it. What would happen to the four people and a dog stranded in the center section, which was whipping up and down and back and forth, and twisting as well? Dave and his mother went to a neighbor's house and watched the action from there.
This is the true story of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, as told through the eyes of a young boy who lived nearby. It is illustrated with dramatic paintings that look pretty realistic, from what I've seen elsewhere. I really liked the information at the end of the book, which explains what happened to the bridge, and talks about other bridges. Galloping Gertie is a great book to have on hand for curious children to look at. I know my sons would love to have a print copy of this one that they could pick up and browse through.
I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

"Galloping" in the great gusts of wind, Gertie had a great fall and all the "kings'" engineers couldn't put that Gertie together again. Young lads and lassies like Dale in the story, will be trussed up with curiosity and the thrill of the story that the author has worked into the telling, Added spark are the carefully thought out and colorfully illustrated pages. Those with 'techie' minds will be captivated, yet even those who like a good short and simple true story will find it educational and will love Galloping Gertie.

~Eunice C. - Reviewer/Blogger~
August 2021

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the review cope sent by the publisher.


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Galloping Gertie
Amanda Abler

With the current emphasis on our nation’s infrastructures, this book is timely. Galloping Gertie was a suspension bridge built in 1940 over the Tacoma Narrows section of Puget Sound in Washington state. Four months after it’s opening the bridge collapsed. Why? Woven in with the technical explanation for its failure is a personal story of a young eyewitness. The author has also included references and internet websites of films taken of the event. I wish some more photos of the bridge had been included with the text. The illustrations did not due justice to the incident. An intriguing subject, rarely covered for this age group but sure to be a hit particularly with young boys.

Most every resident of the PNW knows the story of Galloping Gertie. It is part of Washington State History. Although it is a failure of structural engineering, many take pride in the fact that this failure is still used today in undergraduate and graduate-level courses in structural engineering. This book explains the failures of the design and the disbelief by many of Gertie's collapse. The story shares the pride and disbelief of Gertie. The illustrations are reminiscent of those published in children's books of the 1940s. In this way the reader is transported back in time. The majority of the information about Galloping Gertie is shared in the back matter of the book. There are references, including video links as to where the reader can watch the famous video.

I'm sure the kids will be fascinated by this. It could be a useful opening lesson on sound waves. I would love to read it to the kids and then show them video of the bridge moving up and down.

What a wild but true story about Galloping Gertie, a bridge that collapsed in the PNW. This is not only a book abou the historical event, but it also contains information about bridge building and teaching kids a bit about engineering.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This story is about Galloping Gertie a bridge that was built with a little flow to it but in the end crumbled because it was not built well.

The simple story line of a boy celebrating his birthday compliments the real life disaster of Galloping Gertie. The author expertly involves this boy in the disaster by having him watch it unfold from a window in his neighbor's home. I also liked how the author included details about who built it, the people (and dog) who were on it when it was swaying wildly, and what happened before, during, and after the collapse. The illustrations really support the text and are just as detailed. The best part is the end where it talks about learning from failure. This book also includes an article at the end with photographs and diagrams of the real event, and other similar events, bridge design, and a follow up on the original bridge designer. This book is a must have for any STEM classroom that does the classic "build a bridge" activity!

Although this was very interesting and fun to read, I'm not sure its the best book to read too younger children. In my opinion, this should only be read to a child that has some concept of the time that has passed since now and then. Otherwise, I'm afraid some kids may end up with a fear or even phobia of bridges.

I love this book about Galloping Gertie. Having lived on the Washington Peninsula, and traveling over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge regularly, I always was fascinated by the Galloping Gertie story. I particularly liked the extra "back matter" that explains the vocabulary terms utilized along with the reasons why bridges bounce and twist. This book is definitely one that I will be sharing with our architecture classes and purchasing for my library!

Well, I think this stands as a benchmark if you're planning a book for the young about how a bridge collapses in near-fatal fashion. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was designed to flex, as opposed to snap, and should have survived with a few wobbles when a storm passed through. It did indeed live through a few bad patches, but one time it was too much. Four people had to scurry away, but it seems the dog it was that died. We see all this dramatised from the point of view of a neighbouring child, happy to be having his birthday until the sensational bridge collapse makes it all even more memorable, and of the engineer who designed the structure.

I'll ignore the taint of fiction the boy gave to proceedings – even if we allegedly see him nowadays I can't be sure he wasn't just an audience-friendly lead-in to guide us around proceedings. However, we do still get a very pleasant amount of science afterwards, and facts about the bridge ruins almost making an artificial reef down in the Narrows. That kind of detail was most unexpected, and I do like a book to go a step further than I would have presumed. Also, a stand-out for me was the way the tension, drama and danger in the flexing steel bridge translated into the sound effects design – again, nothing a good comics creator could not produce, but still a step above many efforts in books for the young. All told, then, a book that really does seem to have a niche market and slightly unusual approach, but one that as I say proves itself a superlative example of its kind (if indeed there are others). And that makes me think five stars are in order.

I liked this one, not just the story, but that I learned a lot by reading it too! I liked that there was information in the back about how bridges are built and showed other bridges around the world. A fascinating read!

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC!