Where Do Steam Trains Sleep at Night?

March 15, 2016
Sayres and Slade move naturally from their truck lullaby, Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? (2012), to this nighttime serenade to all things train. In gentle scenes that reflect the colors of the setting sun or are lightened by the stars and moon under a dusky-blue sky, anthropomorphized trains prepare to bed down for the night. "Where do snowplow trains sleep / after all the tracks are clear? / Do their moms say, 'Plow your toys, kids-- / bedtime's almost here'?" The rhyming verse and illustration pair to make clear to readers the job of each train: the monorail's heavy-lidded eyes look toward the airport it services, and the subway rests under a brightly lit and busy city street reminiscent of Times Square. Trains include steam, passenger, freight, fire, high-speed, and breakdown trains as well as trolleys, and the ending suitably places most around a roundhouse under their blanket of stars...before a turn of the page reveals a boy and a girl asleep in their twin beds, their toy trains and tracks laid out in an otherwise pristine bedroom. Pair this with Kevin Lewis' Chugga-chugga Choo-choo, illustrated by Daniel Kirk (1999), for more train fun. Thanks to the popularity of Thomas the Tank Engine, hopeful engineers will want to be able to identify the many different types of trains, and their out-of-the-know adults will appreciate this inclusive primer. (Picture book. 3-6)

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June 1, 2016

PreS-K-The team who created Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? now turn their attention to railroad bedtime rituals. This offering very closely mirrors its predecessor. Monorails, subway cars, fire trains, and even toys are imagined in various nighttime scenarios. Matched with rhyming text, small trains shown with their larger version mimic parents and children. In one scene a miniature steam train sips cocoa on the tracks next to its mother, while in another a diminutive freight train sleeps on its daddy's flatbed as they head back toward the station. As an added bonus, a mouse dressed as an engineer makes an appearance in every spread. The cute cartoon trains are given realistic details and cherubic smiling faces. VERDICT Train lovers will be sure to take this bedtime read for a ride. A sound selection for one-on-one and small group sharing, perfect for bedtime story hours.-Laura Hunter, Mount Laurel Library, NJ

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