A modern-day book with a classic feel that is delicately flavored with a sweet undercurrent of everyday compassion.
A bildungsroman for the toy locomotive set.
A little train spends his days immersed in a lovely life circling his little toy town. But when Mr. Fingers, the hand that controls the little train’s world, accidentally knocks the toy to the floor, a mouse hole provides an avenue for exploration. Once he starts looking around, a series of real trains, from steam locomotives to freighters to bullet trains, show the little toy the wider world. Yet when he wants to return home, he finds the means and the method more difficult than expected. Fortunately a lucky break leads to a happy ending. An afterword provides additional information about each type of train featured in the book. With digital art reminiscent of the woodcuts of old, Gall strives to evoke a bygone era of children’s literature and largely succeeds. The look is complemented by classic storybook language, as in the opening line: “In a small room, down a short flight of stairs, there lived a little train.” He proves himself unafraid to simultaneously summon the awe-inspiring size and power of locomotives and the cozy comforts of a child’s beloved toy. Kids will get a special kick out of comparing the similarities between the toys of Mr. Fingers’ world and the real world the little train explores.
A modern-day book with a classic feel that is delicately flavored with a sweet undercurrent of everyday compassion. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-39286-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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