My Little Train

October 18, 2010
Toys took to the skies in Ichikawa's Come Fly with Me (2008); here, stuffed animals climb aboard a wooden train that emerges from a tunnel fashioned from stacks of picture books. Each announces where it would like to go (" ‘To the pond,' says a duck. Quack, quack. ‘To the field,' says a sheep. Baa, baa"), and Ichikawa's soft watercolors reveal destinations that are ripped from kids' playtime imaginations. The pond is a fishbowl, a bear's "mountain" consists of pillows on a sofa, and a lamb's "meadow" is a lovely, loose rendition of Monet's Poppy Field in Argenteuil. The sole remaining passenger is a kangaroo that helps rescue the train when it tumbles off a "cliff," before the train returns it safely to its mother's pouch. Ichikawa makes excellent use of varied, skewed perspectives to bring readers into the action, staring down at the train while a monkey swings from a houseplant, or following it into the dark recesses of a pillow tunnel. Repeated animal noises and train sounds encourage readers to lend their voices to this whimsical read-aloud. Ages 3–8.

October 15, 2010

A seemingly self-propelled toy train narrates this sweetly invigorating tale while chauffeuring similarly mobile animals to their chosen destinations. At the first stop, the fishbowl "pond," Duck dives in; the field that Sheep leaps into is in an Impressionist painting propped against a wall. After Bear is dropped off on the "mountaintop" (in a moment ever-so-gently reminiscent of The Little Engine That Could without a touch of that title's mawkish sentimentality), a heap of couch pillows presents navigational challenges, and a baby kangaroo who's stowed away for the ride proves strong and helpful in righting tumbled cars. Ichikawa's simple, repetitious text should attract lapsitters, storytimers and beginning readers. Her soft-hued, full-bleed watercolors shift perspective often in a household full of books, toys and tacked-up children's drawings. The absence of human characters permits child readers to fully engage in the story's pretend play, as a new group of toy passengers queues up at "Central Station." Gently winning. (Picture book. 2-5)

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November 1, 2010

PreS-Gr 1-The little train chugs into Central Station and picks up five passengers. Duck wants to go to the pond, Sheep to the field, Monkey to the forest, and Bear to the mountain. Little Kangaroo does not say a word. Off goes the train through the tunnel (a wooden chair), to the pond (a fish bowl), to the field (a painting of a poppy field), to the forest (a large potted plant), and to the mountain (the back of a sofa). With four passengers gone, Little Kangaroo says, "Bravo, Train." Loving adventure, he has come along for the ride. The little train goes across the mountain (the sofa pillows) until it comes to a cliff (the edge of the sofa) and falls. Out hops Little Kangaroo, putting one car after another upright, and back they go to Central Station and the safety of his mama's pocket. The simple, rhythmic text sounds like a train on the tracks, huffing, puffing, and chugging its way around a comfortable living room strewn with toys and books. The realistic watercolor illustrations are done in soft hues and make good use of the white space in each spread. This gentle adventure with its reassuring ending is reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown's Two Little Trains (HarperCollins, 2001). Young listeners will ask for it over and over again.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2010
Preschool-G The inside of a young childs house is transformed into the wider world as a toy train drops off its stuffed-animal passengers at the pond (a duck into a fishbowl), the jungle (a monkey into a potted plant), the mountaintop (a bear onto cushions on the couch), and more. The imaginative story is presumably told from a childs point of view, although no child is pictured, allowing young readers and listeners to fancy themselves directing the action. Charming watercolor illustrations show the series of animals and stops, expanding the repetitive, engaging text, which also includes the sounds each animal makes. The old-fashioned look (no electronic toys; blocky typeface on the cover) is reminiscent of Watty Pipers The Little Engine That Could (1930), and a clean internal design features lots of white space for clear, large black type. Trains and animals are both high-interest topics and are incorporated seamlessly and enjoyably here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)