Busy Machines

Hi everyone,

A fan of BUSY MACHINES just sent me a copy to sign and return. The original came out in 1985 and I hadn’t thought about it in quite a while. I checked it out on the Net and discovered that it still has a rating on Amazon where prices range from $2.95 – 68.00. On B&N I found one priced at $155. Where do they get these ridiculous prices? Someone told me that they may be computer driven. Anyway, there was my old book and now I have a copy here on the desk to sign to a baby who has not been born yet and who will live in the state of New York.

Here’s a link if you’re interested. I’m charmed by the reader reviews. Someone came to me at the reception with a tattered copy of the same book, not much more than cover and bits and pieces of pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Busy-machines-Golden-tell—tale/dp/0307070077/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396613465&sr=8-1&keywords=busy+machines+david+harrison

The opening verse goes like this:

With a bang and a clang
and a chug and a jerk,
machines of all sizes
are busy at work.
With a whir and a purr
and a hum and a roar,
they finish one job,
and they’re ready for more!

One of the interior verses, about the crane:

How do people set a steeple?
With a CRANE.
Raist a tower in an hour?
With a CRANE.
Lift the engine of a train?
Set a farmer’s weather vane?
Set a silo for the grain?
With a CRANE!

It was a fun little book to write and I’m so glad that it lives on in the hearts of those who were little, too, when the book was new.