Author: Margaret Wise Brown (Author) , Leo and Diane Dillon (Illustrator)

Publisher: HarperTrophy

Pub. in: September, 2003

ISBN: 0064435687

Pages: 32

Measurements: 8.2 x 10.9 x 0.1 inches

Origin of product: USA

Order code: BC00270

Other information: Reissue edition

With the popularity of things like The Polar Express and Harry Potter, trains are getting rediscovered all the time. Unlike many picture books, the story told by this one begins on the cover. As we look at this book we see a beautiful sleek silver train resting in a station. Beside it, alongside the track, sit two packed bags and a wrapped present of a toy train. By the time you read the title page the present has been opened and the little train sits silently on the floor awaiting play. Then the words begin. "Two little trains went down the track/ Two little trains went West". On the left hand page sits the grand old silvery sleek train, gearing up to leave the station. On the right hand page you can just barely make out the little toy train as it sits beneath a kitchen chair, readying itself for its journey as well. As the big adult train travels through the countryside, the little toy train does the same, only on a much smaller scale. So when the big train goes through a mountainous tunnel, the little one passes under a propped up book that's entitled "Hills". When the big one goes over a river, the little one rides over the edge of a full bath. It continues in this fashion until at last the two trains reach their destinations when, "They had come to the edge of the West".

Widely regarded children's author Margaret Wise Brown originally wrote this story in 1949, possibly with a completely different vision of how it would play out. After all, the text never says that one train is real and that the other a toy. Instead it says that one train was a "streamlined train" and that the other was, "a little old train". In addition, illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon have given the book an entirely new life. The original words by Brown are just as catchy and interesting as they ever were. Everything in this book is given a kind of rounded sheen in this story. Each surface is deep and clearly delineated. Some of the simplest objects you might find in a home are present here. The Dillons have placed this book in a time that could be anything from 1949 to 2005. Certainly the toys in the child's house are a little old-fashioned, but they're also timeless. There's a bouncy ball, a teddy bear, and a rubber duck. The toy train itself is made of colorful blocks of wood, not something plastic or breakable. The streamlined train appears to be placed in a contemporary world but again there aren't any landmarks that make this clear. Moreover, the book never shows that the child is playing with the little train. Instead, we occasionally see a rubber ducky noting the toy's progress as it navigates difficult slopes and wet spots. At the end of the story, the little train rests beside a child's bed, the kid in it asleep and turned away from us. We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl, and that's a wonderful thing.

In this book, the words are simple and rhythmic and tell a simple story of traveling across the country to the west coast. The beautiful pastel illustrations flesh out the words magnificently. They are rich with things to look at, yet very soft and calming at the same time. The parallels presented in the pictures with each left/right spread are wonderfully engaging.

This is also a fine allegory of a parent's love for parents. Neither rain, nor snow, nor fringe on the rug will keep a loving parent from a child's side. Each train faces trials which are difficult in their own measure for the train in question, yet each train ultimately completes its journey successfully. The last page - the image of the toy train reaching the sleeping child, is wonderfully evocative. Though the book ends there, one can easily imagine the delighted child coming down the stairs in the morning, carrying the toy train, and looking eagerly for their loved one. The sense of coming home to warmth and safety make it a great bedtime book as well.

Target readers: Kids aged 4-8

Better with On the Day You Were Born: Book And Musical CD :

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