Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/01/2017 This handsome picture book reassures readers that trains are on the job, night and day. Beginning before dawn, the light narrative introduces a blue passenger train, then a freight train, and then a circus train, following each across several broad, double-page spreads before returning to the blue train that evening. It stops at a station to let passengers disembark before gathering speed and moving on across the moonlit countryside. Rosenbaum’s rhythmic, rhyming verses make good use of evocative words and sounds: “Puffing, chuffing, never yawning, / Climbing hills as day is dawning. / Trains don’t sleep—they CLANG and HOOT, / Reaching stations on their route.” Painted in oils, the lovely soft-edged illustrations feature rounded forms, pleasing compositions, and a sensitive use of light. Children will enjoy pointing out the people and animals that appear in more than one scene, particularly in the passenger train and circus sequences. The attractive glossary features 15 small pictures of details from previous pages, along with definitions for terms such as boxcar, hopper, and tender. A well-crafted tribute to trains. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 06/01/2017 PreS-Gr 1—Trains roll by throughout the seasons, at night and during the day, and set against backdrops that vary from nature scenes to urban settings. In the beginning, viewers see a passenger train followed by a freight train, a steam train, and even a circus train. Holding the random scenes together are a girl and a boy getting on at different stops, befriending each other during the ride, and waving goodbye as they part. The rhyming text is rich and rhythmic—"Rumbling, grumbling, screech and squeal,/Rolling, trolling wheels on steel." The softly hued images in oil on paper are uncomplicated and inviting, ranging from close-up scenes to wide landscapes, set during the early to mid-20th century. A simple, illustrated glossary is appended. VERDICT Sure to be a hit with train fans. Best shared in small groups or one-on-one.—Gaye Hinchliff, King County Library System, WA - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.