TRAIN DRIVER

Youngsters are invited to hop aboard to live out their fantasies of railway travel.

Eager to become a driver one day, a brown-skinned child visits a local train station, wondering what the job entails. The rest of the book answers that question. “Which train?” the young narrator asks. Three options follow: freight, bullet, and steam, with an informative tidbit for each. The protagonist, now dressed for the part of driver, arrives at the station early. Boarding a high-speed passenger train, the driver checks the control panel displays; then it’s “Off we go!” “We’re a team,” the young narrator notes, with the driver and a brown-skinned conductor heading up a crew of (unseen) workers. Trains go “over and under” a graceful old bridge, stopping at a station where passengers include a hijab wearer, wheelchair user, and many brown faces. After traveling through an underwater tunnel and pausing so that wet leaves can be cleared from the tracks, the train reaches “the end of the line” just in time for lunch. Before the return trip home, it’s made “ready for the next ride.” The child’s reflection on the day’s work is followed by a brief profile of a real-life train driver, where photos replace the bright pastel line-and-color illustrations, some with labels. Plenty of specific details, presented from the perspective of an exuberant train enthusiast, give a clear, informative idea of the position.

You-are-there thrills coupled with solidly grounded facts.