"A book imbued with moonlit magic."—The Washington Post"
I expect this one to fly off the shelves." - Jen Robinson's Book Page"
I couldn't wait to get my hands on this rhythmic, rhyming hypnotic vehicle bedtime book from the team who brought us the best selling Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site. It's another winner." - Lisa Von Drasek, Early Word"
Destined to be a bedtime classic." - WorkingMother.com"
Another winner for bedtime." - The San Francisco Chronicle"
A great bedtime book." - 5 Minutes for Books"
A go-to goodnight story for train- and animal-loving preschoolers." - Publishers Weekly, starred review"
A feeling of warmth and an old-fashioned nursery aura abound." - Kirkus Reviews"
Skillfully combines both the factual and imaginative guises of trains in a playful picture book." - The Wall Street Journal
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year"
Rhythmic, engaging, and beautiful." - Amazon.com's Omnivoracious blog"
Kids will clamor for this one at bedtime and storytime alike." - Booklist, starred review"
I will be sharing Steam Train, Dream Train with some very excited students this week..." - Laura Given, Librarian"
I loved Steam Train, Dream Train.... Can I see it becoming a favorite bedtime story's I most certainly can." - Roundtable Reviews
Chicago Public Library Best Picture Books of the Year"
Will be embraced as a nighttime standard, particularly among train lovers everywhere."-School Library Journal, starred review"
The combination of words and drawings is sure to stir the imaginations of little ones as it lulls them to sleep." - MotherDaughterBookClub.com"
Steam Train, Dream Train has the look and feel of a classic." - Common Sense Media
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
"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)
