Alphabet Trains

September 7, 2015
In a companion to 2013’s Alphabet Trucks, Vamos and O’Rourke introduce 26 trains as they proceed from A to Z. They make room for general categories like bullet trains and coal trains, as well as location-specific conveyances—like the Xplorer of New South Wales, Australia, and the Q train of New York City’s subway system, taking care of a couple tricky letters in the process. Vamos’s rhymes are as sturdy as the trains she discusses (“I is for incline train,/ a steep, uphill track./ J is for Jupiter,/ with a wide balloon stack”), while O’Rourke sneaks numerous upper- and lower-case letters into his cheerful digital illustrations, which all but beg to be pointed out by kids as the pages turn. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Emily Mitchell, Wernick & Pratt Agency.