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A Full Handwritten and illustrated by Thomas F. Yezerski32 pp., full-color illustrations, ages 6-8 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002) ISBN-10: 0374425027 ISBN-13: 9780374425029 To jump ahead on this page, click one of these links:
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"The boat wound through fields and forests. They even crossed a stream on an aqueduct, which was a bridge with the canal built right into it.
Asa kept the mules moving with a word or just a pat of his hand.
The Captain called, ‘I see they’re not giving you much trouble anymore.’
‘Oh, they’re all right,’ Asa answered. He smiled to himself.
Up ahead, the canal seemed to end at the foot of a high hill.”
—A Full Hand
Even though Asa is only nine years old, and he spends his summer days playing tag and skipping stones, it’s time for him to grow up. His father is the Captain of a canal boat and he needs Asa’s help. The Captain needs Asa to drive the mules that pull his eighty-ton canal boat.
Asa and his father set off across late-19th Century New Jersey on a mission to deliver coal from Phillipsburg to Jersey City. Along the way, Asa learns about the workings of a canal, including locks, inclined planes, and aqueducts. Most of all, Asa learns about a good day’s work, and when a dangerous storm arises, Asa learns what it really means to make a full hand.
I based the canal in A Full Hand on the Morris Canal, which crossed New Jersey from Phillipsburg to Jersey City and existed from the 1830’s to the 1920’s. Its main purpose was to carry coal from Pennsylvania to markets in New Jersey and New York, but it also carried everything from produce to lumber. The canal used 23 locks and 23 inclined planes to climb 914 feet over its 102-mile distance.
I chose this canal because it has some personal meaning. The Morris Canal followed much the same route that I followed when I moved away from my hometown and settled in Northern New Jersey. In fact, I still see markers for the canal every time I go to visit my parents. It must have been during one of those trips to “the old homestead” that I thought of writing a story about one of the hundreds of boys who probably became a man along that path.
The first question everyone asks when I tell them about this book is “What is a full hand?” Well, I’m not exactly sure. It’s a phrase I found in the book Tales the Boatmen Told. The book is a collection of stories told by people who lived and worked around the Morris Canal. The paragraph reads, “When I was told that I would have to make a full hand with my father on the boat, I thought it would be fine and I felt like a full grown man, and was very willing to do my part. I began to get ready for the big adventure.” The book doesn’t explain exactly what a full hand is, but it sounds like it’s simply a good day’s work, a man’s share of work. It seems to fit my character Asa perfectly.
I have some people to thank for A Full Hand. Thanks to everyone who, to this day, are still working hard to revive and preserve an important part of New Jersey’s and our country’s heritage. Thanks to Jim Lee for his work preserving the history of the Morris Canal and passing it along to the rest of us. Thanks to Bob and Linda Barth, of the Canal Society of New Jersey, for reading and re-reading each and every version of A Full Hand to make sure the story of the Morris Canal stays intact. Mostly, thanks to my Dad for explaining every last little thing and for showing me that life is about working hard and doing right.
I used many of the following great books in my research of the Morris Canal, and the others are terrific resources as well, if you’re interested in this fascinating subject:
A Full Hand received the following honors:
The New York Times Book Review listed A Full Hand in its “Bookshelf” section, February 9, 2003.
“Readers young and old are sure to learn something new in this informative story. . . In remarkably simple language, and yet with great detail, Yezerski . . . describes the fascinating journey of the coal. . . The watercolor illustrations complement the text perfectly; on the one hand educating readers about the many creative inventions that allow boats to travel across the country while on the other, showing a father and son working together to support their family. Authentic 1800’s details and fantastic fall foliage only add to the appeal. A sure hit with young budding engineers.” — Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2002
“Information on what canal boats looked like and how locks functioned is smoothly worked into the story, which is skillfully illustrated with careful, ambitious pen-and-wash drawings that use interesting perspectives to tell this story.” — Booklist, January 15, 2002