This little charmer is clearly intended for the vehicle-obsessed toddler. As a young boy plays with his cars, trucks, planes, and trains, the bedtime theme emerges with: “Sunset glowing in the west. / Engine slowing, / wheels at rest.” In savory, rich colors, the most striking of which are the deep plums and cobalt blues, Iwai’s illustrations are meticulous. The settings alternate from realistic, life scenes of, say, a plane landing on a runway (perhaps the boy’s imaginative vision) with that of the boy holding the toy plane aloft. The little tyke’s bedroom is a pleasant jumble of toys that make up the backdrop of his play with blocks, stuffed animals, jacks, and all manner of conveyance. Mortensen has written just enough text to engage the sleepy child while the soothing cadence will help ease the youngster into a contented slumber. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2003
ISBN: 0-618-13537-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2003
The words to a Nat King Cole song from the 1940s serve as the text for this bedtime story featuring the roly-poly animals and charming children in soft-focus watercolors that are the signature look of Jane Dyer’s illustrations. For this effort, her daughter Brooke is the co-illustrator. As the story begins, a big blue train pulls in with bells ringing and whistle blowing. The train transports a smiling, singing crowd of cute children to Dreamland, riding on peppermint-striped rails to a station that serves up ice cream and then around a candy-coated mountain and up into the sky. The story concludes with a blond toddler, also shown on the front cover, climbing into bed with the magical train floating through the sky outside the window. The words from the song are not well-known today, but they function adequately as a structure for this wispy, dreamy interpretation. The pleasant illustrations have a slightly washed-out look, and everything seems a bit hazy and subdued, but that might be just right to coax a little one into dreamland. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-058021-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
Little train lovers will be happy to travel along as this choo-choo rumbles along the tracks. (Picture book. 2-4)
An exciting train trip from his suburban town to the big city for a visit with grandma proves to be enlightening for a young boy.
This small child, dangling feet from his perch on the station bench, lunch bag in hand, experiences the thrill of traveling alone. His day begins with a warm greeting from a blue-uniformed conductor and continues with the “all aboard” whistle, the rush of the train’s mounting speed felt from a window seat, the special treat of being let into the engineer’s car to “sound the whistle” and the grand view of the approaching star-filled city skyline. Finally, the day-long trip culminates with his grandmother’s welcoming hug at the station. Gouache, Disney-esque cartoon drawings in understated colors provide a cheery, cherubic, wide-eyed cast of characters—complete with a rounded frontal view of a “little engine that could” smiling face. It's definitely a nostalgic view of a contemporary adventure. How many young children would be permitted to travel alone these days? The succinct, rhyming text is created with sentences of no more than two to four words each, which gives an appropriately trainlike rhythm to the narrative and supports emergent literacy skills in toddlers.
Little train lovers will be happy to travel along as this choo-choo rumbles along the tracks. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4231-1837-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
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