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U P S I D E D O W N   T O W N      For hours and hours Rickie and Anne rode in the train with red coaches on the way to Grandfather’s. Rickie let Anne, who was smaller, sit at the

Author:  F. Emerson Andrews Copyright Date:  1958 Publisher:  Little, Brown Pagination:  64 p.

window, but he could see out, too. There wasn’t much to see except fields, and now and then a house, a tall windmill, and a few scrawny trees.      The nice, even clickety-click changed to a screech, and the train stopped with a bump. They saw the Conductor in his blue coat outside, walking very fast toward the head of the train. Rickie leaned against the window, but all he could see was that they were stopped near a river.      Soon the Conductor came back, a whistle blew, the train gave a bump and started moving.      “We’re going backward,” said Anne.      “So we are,” said Rickie, seeing the trees go by in the wrong direction. “I don’t believe this is a good way to get to Grandfather’s.”      The train went backward for quite a long time, and then it began to slow down. They were getting into a town. Rickie crowded to the window. Was this Lancaster where Grandfather would meet them?      They were backing into a station. The sign didn’t look like LANCASTER. It looked like this:      “Rickie, can you read that?” asked Anne.      “No, it must be in some other language.”      Just then the Conductor in his blue coat with the big brass buttons opened the door and called out:      “Upside-Down Town! All passengers out!”      “I still can’t make out that sign,” said Rickie.      “Silly! Didn’t you hear the Conductor? We’re in Upside-Down Town. You have to twist your head around, and then you can read it plain. It’s printed upside down because we’re in Upside-Down Town!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cover variant

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