RATTLE AND RAP

All aboard for a fast-paced trip to the seaside. From the moment they arrive at the station there is so much for this family to experience. Look and listen to all the sights and sounds of the train as it moves in and out of tunnels and over bridges and passes villages and farms, animals and people. Pass the tickets to the conductor and have a bite to eat in the dining car. The action is conveyed in brightly colored, gloriously detailed torn-paper collages that give the illusion of texture, depth and perspective. The text is spare in the extreme, employing carefully selected words of sound and movement: “swishing and swaying,” “hurtling” and “rocking and rolling.” Even the endpapers keep to the theme with railroad and station signs cleverly placed in a wallpaper design. Originally published in the United Kingdom, a bit of explanation might be needed for American youngsters for whom train travel is an unknown experience. Once that’s done, it’s a journey to be savored again and again. (Picture book. 2-6)