Trains Don't Sleep by Andria Rosenbaum, illustrated by Deirdre Gill - ESSENTIAL

Rosenbaum, Andria.  Trains Don’t Sleep, illustrated by Deirdre Gill.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.  $16.99.  Content: G.  PICTURE BOOK.

Beautiful descriptive language and excellent rhyme and meter make this train book steam ahead of the rest.  A great book to read aloud with sentences like, “Rumbling, grumbling, screech and squeal, / Rolling, trolling wheels on steel.”  The train reaches the station in a busy city and a little girl in a yellow dress climbs aboard.  The train travels far over the tracks through forests, canyons, and even snow until it reaches the circus.  Then the train begins its journey back home underneath the stars and the little girl in yellow gets off the train in the city.  A glossary is included at the end of the book to define train lingo, such as “boxcar” and “caboose.”

The illustrations are simply gorgeous and have the same feel as The Polar Express (another excellent train book).  Each two-page spread is its own nostalgic painting of the past.  Highly recommended. 

Pre-K, EL (K-3) -ESSENTIAL.  Samantha Hastings, MA, MLS.