New Baby Train

We originally checked this out of the library, and my son (3) wanted to read it every night week after week. For me, the illustrations are incredible - so wonderful, and if you have the chance to listen to the Daddy-O-Daddy! cd you can hear Kim Wilson's version of the Woody Guthrie song which is pretty special.

This book is a magnificent night time story for young and old. A celebration of babies and sweetness beyond compare. Each baby pictured is sweeter than the the one before. Particularly perfect for adopted children, as the storyline features and pictures babies of every color, shape and size. The ultimate destination for these sweethearts is the arms of a loving family. My grandchildren squeal to have someone read this family celebration of love. It's my favorite children's bedtime story. Can't recommend it enough.

We read this at least three times before bed every night...and I don't mind. Great pictures.

This book has flying trains, babies, guitars, and great drawings. My kid loves it, and it's one of the more pleasant books for me to read to him as well. The lyrics by Woody Guthrie are very fun as well.

Woody Guthrie is the source of a countless new picture books every single year. It's as if the man was some kind of a bottomless source of material, long after his folksinging days. I guess this makes sense. Friend and fellow activist Pete Seeger is responsible for some of the best picture books out there today, so why not take Guthrie's already family friendly child song fare and make it palatable to the children of the 21st century? It's probably just a matter of time before Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Joni Mitchell do the same. But until Ani DiFranco starts getting in on the act, let's examine one of Guthrie's lesser-known songs. It's a fun little conceit but also a harmless little bit of fluff that won't stick in your brain much longer than a reading or two. Where do babies come from? Well, sir, that's a mighty fine question. If it were asked in seriousness we'd have to go pull out a copy of "Where Willy Went" by Nicholas Allan. Fortunately, it is not and we instead watch a floppy-hatted guitar-strumming kid rhapsodizing on the subject. "The flowers bring some, the trees bring some, the birds bring some, the cars bring some...". One of the most amusing ways they might come, however, is via a kind of new baby train. In his mind, the narrator sees himself catching such a train and finding it filled with babies ready to go to new homes. When the conductor tells the boy to hop on board, he meets the infants already there and enjoys the ride. The boy and babies sing together, partake of some especially tasty bottles, and nap a little while. By the end, every baby has found its place, including one that's just come home with the boy. I have to say, illustrator Marla Frazee knows how to pick 'em. I imagine she felt she'd hit gold when she found herself paired with an author like the inimitable Guthrie. Talk about illustrating the words of giants! Frazee's an impressive name in the children's literary world in her own right, I should note. Her "Roller Coaster" is repeatedly requested by tots and her "Hush Little Baby: A Folk Song With Pictures" proves that she was already well-acquainted with both folksongs and the Dust Bowl long before "New Baby Train" landed in her lap. The book itself invokes the dirt and hard labor of the Great Depression. Pullman Porters, dusty farmlands, and babies reading the Hobo News (the word "STRIKE" is nice and bright on the front page) are all present here. There are plenty of in-jokes for parents familiar in any way with Guthrie's life and works and the babies are beautifully multicultural, so that's one less thing to worry about. Frazee's so careful that she even makes the undersides of the babies bare feet dark with the dirt of the road. Of course, while there's nothing wrong with the book per say, it is a little confusing. First the boy seems to be pretending that he's on the baby train. Next thing you know you're at the end of the book and there's an honest-to-goodness baby there with him