OTO AND THE LITTLE YELLOW TRAIN

A girl and her grandmother reminisce as they journey back to the city after a summer spent in the mountains.

Oto, a Japanese youngster, sits on a yellow train with her Obah-chan listening to the wheels clack down the track (“Gatan, goton”) as the scenery flies by the windows. Oto’s heartbeat echoes the sounds of the hurtling train as she frets about each mile that separates them from their happy time in the mountains. “It’s mean that summer has to end,” she says, sniffing Obah-chan’s arm to remind herself of the scent of the cedar tree they saw on a walk that morning. People board and leave the train at each station; meanwhile, Oto feels summer slipping away. Memories flood her mind, from the sounds of the cicadas to the “sweet, salty bites” of watermelon she and Obah-chan shared to the drumbeat that played at the Bon festival. When the train arrives, Oto isn’t ready to say goodbye, but a special shared moment on the platform results in a new memory and a smooth transition to her parents. Ogawa’s spare, sensory prose evokes Oto’s recognizable experience using onomatopoetic Japanese phrases. The author/illustrator expertly bathes Oto and Obah-chan and their remembered experiences in bright, bold colors; by contrast, the other passengers are depicted with more muted hues, focusing readers’ attention on Oto’s emotional journey.

A gentle, poetic ode to the difficulties of accepting change.