The Rain Train

PreS—A child watches from a window as the rain pours down—"A pitter-pat-pat, a pitter-pat-pat"—and a train speeds through the night. Soon he, too, is boarding the Rain Train with other pajama-clad passengers. As it glides from the station, whooshes through the tunnels, and whistles across the bridges, the train roars across the pages. The beat of the downpour and the sway of the cars make the journey more exciting. Only at the story's end do readers discover that the boy's experience is just a wonderful dream. De Roo's text combines a number of image-producing words, which appear in extra-large dark type—"Spitter-spat-spit," "A clatter-clat-clat," "Whooshety-wish"—and young readers will enjoy chiming in as the story unfolds. Lovelock employs a lot of night colors—dark blues and greens—with streaks of lightning to add drama; he lightens the scenes with the boy's train-patterned pajamas and a variety of friendly passengers. This appealing variation on the nighttime story will put children's imaginations on a soothing track for going to bed.—Barbara Elleman, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA