Steam Train, Dream Train

by Sherri Duskey Rinker, Tom Lichtenheld (Illustrator)

Overview

"Each train car of softly colored animals has much to look at and point to, even as eyelids grow heavy." —Working Mother

An unabridged board book version of the bestselling hardcover, perfect for small hands: The dream train pulls into the station, and one by one the train cars are loaded: polar bears pack the reefer car with ice cream, elephants fill the tanker cars with paints, tortoises stock the auto rack with race cars, and kangaroos stuff the hopper car with balls (while zebras referee) before settling in for a good night's sleep.

• Features dreamy illustrations of animals of all shapes and sizes with gentle rhyming text to soothe and relax.
• The board book style is compact and durable so it's ideal for travelling and reading on-the-go.
• Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Litchenheld have worked together to create multiple #1 New York Times Bestsellers consisting of thoughtful storylines paired with compelling illustrations.

Fans of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, I Wish You More, and Mighty Mighty Construction Site will also enjoy this sweet bedtime story written for quiet, sleepy moments.

A must-have book for any budding train enthusiast.

• Great family read aloud book
• Books for kids ages 4-8
• Children's book for grades K-3

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452152172
Publisher:	Chronicle Books LLC
Publication date:	01/30/2018
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	55,174
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	2 - 4 Years

About the Author

Sherri Duskey Rinker lives in Chicago with her photographer husband and two energetic, inquisitive sons: one fascinated by bugs and magic, and the other by trucks and trains. She created this goodnight story in hopes of happier bedtimes and sweet dreams for all. Find out more about Sherri at www.sherriduskeyrinker.com.

Tom Lichtenheld loves drawing pictures and telling silly stories. His books include the New York Times bestseller Duck! Rabbit!, Wumbers, and the ALA Notable Children's Book, E-mergency! He lives in Geneva, Illinois. Visit him at www.tomlichtenheld.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Each train car of softly colored animals has much to look at and point to, even as eyelids grow heavy." --Working Mother

From the Publisher

Like this team’s bestselling Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, this vehicular bedtime book revs up before winding down, and both text and art smoothly transition from stimulating to soothing. A train stops at the “Night Falls” station to pick up its animal crew, who energetically load the train: acrobatic monkeys carry monkey bars onto a boxcar, rabbits bounce aboard on pogo sticks, a polar bear fills a refrigerated car with giant ice cream sundaes, and leaping kangaroos toss balls into a hopper (“The crew hops to it, one and all—/ they get to work and have a ball!”). Rinker’s verse assumes a gentler lilt as the weary animals are pictured tucked into bed—on flatbed cars, fittingly—and the train is seen “Puffing, chuffing out of sight.../ Steam train, dream train.../ chhhhhh... goodnight.” Rendered in wax oil pastels, Lichtenheld’s moonlit illustrations have a lovely luster and a rich texture reminiscent of chalk drawings, using various shades of blue to evoke a magical midnight setting. A go-to goodnight story for train- and animal-loving preschoolers. Ages 1–6. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-K—From out of the midnight darkness comes a mighty train heading to Night Falls station. With clouds of steam hissing from the smokestack and brakes squealing, it comes to a stop and the animal crew jumps out, ready to load up the cars with freight. A rambunctious bunch of monkeys fills the boxcar with toys while kangaroos toss balls into the open-topped hopper car. Purple elephants use their trunks to fill the tanker cars with different colored paints as a polar bear and penguin put giant ice-cream sundaes in the reefer car. After such a hard night's work, the crew beds down on the flatbed car, ready for the steam engine to fire up and take them to dreamland. The strength of this book is in the striking spreads in wax oil pastel. A vast night sky is filled with sparkly stars and large billowing clouds that frame the oncoming train traveling through a realistically silhouetted landscape, while the animal crew looks strangely toylike, as though made of plush and plastic. It is not until the final spread that this incongruous bunch, and this whole dream, is explained by a nighttime look at a young train lover's bedroom. The beginning and end of the book are filled with expressive and enjoyable railroad sounds, yet the rhyming text loses a bit of steam in the middle, describing but not always enhancing the activity depicted in the illustrations. Still, this is a book that will, like its predecessor, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site (Chronicle, 2011), be embraced as a nighttime standard, particularly among train lovers everywhere.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

"Through the darkness, clickety-clack... / coming closer, down the track..." The night train is arriving; it carries an unusual cargo and an even more surprising crew. Darkly lit pastel illustrations reveal monkeys, kangaroos, an elephant and various other animals, all of whom are ready to load freight appropriate to their eating habits, anatomy or abilities into a variety of different, named railroad cars. Rhymed text full of onomatopoeia describes the monkeys packing bananas, monkey bars, hula hoops and a sock monkey into the boxcar. Kangaroos toss balls into the hopper, and elephants squirt different-colored paints into tankers. Whimsical, dreamlike imagery continues as a polar bear loads a giant ice-cream sundae onto the freezer car, while the tortoises drive race cars onto an autorack. While it's not a strikingly original selection, a feeling of warmth and an old-fashioned nursery aura both abound here. Train and animal enthusiasts alike will enjoy the gentle action and may just drift off as the train fills up and the animals go to sleep, safely tucked in on flatbed cars that hold…beds. "Steam train, dream train... / chhhhhh...goodnight." A solid companion to Rinker and Lichtenheld's Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (2011). (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

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