BOOKS

Where Do Steam Trains Sleep at Night?

by Brianna Caplan SAYRES

Where Do Steam Trains Sleep at Night? illus. by Christian Slade. 32p. ebook available. Random. May 2016. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780553520989; lib. ed. $19.99. ISBN 9780375974717.

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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.

Reviewed by Laura Hunter, Mount Laurel Library, NJ

A rhyming text asks readers to wonder things such as "Where do passenger trains sleep / once they've dropped off girls and boys? / Do they fill their seats with teddy bears / and cuddly bedtime toys?" Illustrations show many varieties of (sometimes creepy-looking) anthropomorphized trains in parent-and-child pairs doing bedtime routines. Steam Train, Dream Train makes better use of a trains-at-bedtime premise.

, Jun 01, 2016

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