The Littlest Train

Starred review from June 19, 2017
Having gone big in Dinotrux and microscopic in NanoBots, Gall does a bit of both, sending a tiny train on an enormous adventure. After being accidentally knocked off a tabletop town of crisscrossing wooden tracks (“It was the only neighborhood he had ever known”), the train travels through a mouse hole “tunnel” to the outside world and meets life-size trains of all kinds, including a steam locomotive, cog railway engine, rotary snowplow train, and commuter train. Gall lightly anthropomorphizes the trains, giving them bright eyes, friendly grins, and names such as Mighty Max and Chloe Cogs. Working together, the toy train’s new friends deliver him back where he belongs: “At one hundred and fifty miles per hour, we’ll get you home lightning quick,” boasts Sara Speedster, a bullet train. Boldly colored and textured with crisp, engravinglike lines, Gall’s epic panoramas highlight the grand scale of the train’s journey through hilly green farmland and craggy golden canyons. Train fans getting ready to graduate from Thomas the Tank Engine will enjoy getting to know a new crew in this feast for the imagination. Ages 4–8. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary Studio.

July 15, 2017
A bildungsroman for the toy locomotive set. A little train spends his days immersed in a lovely life circling his little toy town. But when Mr. Fingers, the hand that controls the little train's world, accidentally knocks the toy to the floor, a mouse hole provides an avenue for exploration. Once he starts looking around, a series of real trains, from steam locomotives to freighters to bullet trains, show the little toy the wider world. Yet when he wants to return home, he finds the means and the method more difficult than expected. Fortunately a lucky break leads to a happy ending. An afterword provides additional information about each type of train featured in the book. With digital art reminiscent of the woodcuts of old, Gall strives to evoke a bygone era of children's literature and largely succeeds. The look is complemented by classic storybook language, as in the opening line: "In a small room, down a short flight of stairs, there lived a little train." He proves himself unafraid to simultaneously summon the awe-inspiring size and power of locomotives and the cozy comforts of a child's beloved toy. Kids will get a special kick out of comparing the similarities between the toys of Mr. Fingers' world and the real world the little train explores. A modern-day book with a classic feel that is delicately flavored with a sweet undercurrent of everyday compassion. (Picture book. 3-6)

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July 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-Railway lovers will relish Gall's latest offering. A little train, who has known only the "tiny town" he has spent his days circling, sees his world derailed when Mr. Fingers arrives, demolishing all he has ever known. After getting knocked over by a crane, he tumbles "down, down, down and into a brand-new world." The little train meets a variety of big trains who take him on many exciting adventures with myriad new sights to take in. The digitally created artwork's use of bold lines, bright colors, and expressive faces brings the trains to life, letting them burst with personality. A mix of oblong paneling and full spreads captures the energy of each train and the rich worlds they inhabit, propelling the narrative forward. Several spreads, with minimal to no text, of vast landscapes will absorb readers. The tale ends on a satisfying note as the little hero makes it home to find his tiny town is now an expanded world with new train friends and more tracks to explore. An author's note with information about the trains will appease young train buffs. VERDICT A must-buy for all libraries where train books are in demand. A perfect choice for storytime or one-on-one sharing.-Danielle Jones, Multnomah County Library, OR

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2017
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Gall, creator of the smash hit Dinotrux series, now brings to life six working trains, along with a toy train that hauls LEGO-like people and wooden blocks around a model village. One day, Mr. Fingers inadvertently knocks the little train off the table and onto the floor, catapulting him into entirely new landscapes and adventures. The train spies a tunnel (a mouse hole) and travels behind the walldepicted through a wonderfully realized sequence of long, wordless panelsuntil emerging outside. The small red locomotive proceeds to hop aboard a series of real trains, each showing him a different view of the wider world, before helping him back home. As with Dinotrux (2009), the digital artwork explodes with expressive vehicles, colorful landscapes (including farmland, desert, and mountain terrain), and panels and double-page spreads filled with action. His use of a corrugated cardboardlike texture unites the wooden world of the indoor train set with the real world. This well-plotted and suspenseful story of disruption, adventure, and a hero's return will have massive appeal for all train-lovers, as it showcases the steam locomotive, cog railway engine, bullet train, and freight train, not to mention a crowded switching yard. The More about Trains page at the book's end contains quick facts on these and other trains. Being little has never been so grand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)