All Aboard!

We love children's books, and this one tops the list in our family. The words are well chosen and even poetic, incorporating rhythm without being rhymy and simplistic, so that the parent loves to read the book, and the child loves to listen to the rhythm of the words. The writing has many layers of meaning, and the illustrations are rich with things to discover. It's our favorite book, and one of Mary Lyn Ray's best.

This is a beautifully illustrated, charming book which is a good alternative for train fanatics (you can only read Thomas so many times..!). It has nice pacing which is ideal for reading out loud. The heros are a little girl and a stuffed rabbit and all the folks/places they encounter on an overnight train trip - but of course, the real hero is the train!

My three-year old son loves books about trains. The challenge is finding a book that I enjoy reading over and over as many times as he enjoys listening to the story. _All_Aboard_ has flowing text that is fun to read, and fun to hear. The writing begs to be read aloud, and the reader will feel an enticement to make the words roll off the tongue as rhythmically as the train rolls along the track. A young girl takes a train ride with Mr. Barnes, her toy rabbit, to see Grandma and Grandpa. The journey is not only one of words and sound. Amiko Hirao has done an excellent job with the art work. The pictures will hold the attention of child and adult for there is much to discover visually as the train moves towards its destination.

Mr. Barnes, a slightly mysterious rabbit in a blue suit, goes on a train ride in this incredibly engaging and original book. "All Aboard" combines old-fashioned sensibilities (the first few pages evoked 1950's illustrations to me) with a rarely seen sophistication in the test and illustrations. I loved it. Amiko Hirao's dazzling pictures draw the reader right into the center of the story. You are immersed in the huge color displays, and the cinematic collages and low and high picture angles. Without showing a single step, she conveys both the upper berth and the aisle of a train; she inserts cut pictures of faces into a colored-pencil nightscape; she startles us with an immense dark tunnel. In one particularly original picture, a child looks directly at the reader, a passenger (only the right arm is shown) reads a yellowed newspaper with the headline "Olivia is Born," and a cuff-linked giraffe talks on a cell phone-it's dreamlike, a little noir film in day-glow colors. Mary Lyn Ray's writing also combines the traditional and the original. There are familiar repetitions and rhythms (although look how she punctuates the following): Whoonk whoonk wahooomk. The trains start slow. But then it begins to roll. Long train, silver train. Long train, silver train. Long train. Silver train. Long train. Silver train. Train, train, train, train. Whooo whoooooo and there are phrases that convey imagery and metaphor: Baggaged boxes "sleep," and, as the train rolls along: "A city slides by, strung with lights in the night, like a tug of dreams on a river." Similarly, one page has the familiar cadence of " A freight flashes by...Red red yellow green yellow yellow blue green. Vrooom. Vroom. Vroom," but the next page describes how "Mr. Barnes likes to look out the window. He likes to see the between. The between where's he's come from and where he goes to." The book also has a fun surprise ending. How can you not like an author who dedicates the book "for everyone who waves from trains, and all those who wave back?" I think that kids from toddler to early grade school age will enjoy the book immensely. However, because of the art and design, teens and adults will appreciate Ray and Hirao's exceptionally talented imagination. Very, very highly recommended!

This book has a simple yet appealing story that kids can relate to (going on a journey, trains, a favorite stuffed animal and family). The language used is descriptive of a train sounds and fun to read. The illustrations are colorful, stylish and full of humorous detail (the mole's devotion to Crunch bars and reading books). I love reading this book almost as much as my three year old son does.