Customer Reviews

It's Funny Where Ben's Train Takes Him

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My five-year-old son loves this book and asks me to read it over and over to him. (He's even learning to recognize many of the words.) What I think he loves about it is that Ben uses his imagination to create magical worlds with his toys -- just like what five-year olds do.

My 2 y.o. son LOVES this book. He loves trains and he gets that the little boy in the story is using his imagination to fantasize where the train goes. It's a bedtime favorite and I highly recommend it.

We came across this book by chance at the library. My son is 2 years old and loves trains- this story is so sweet, it's a wonderful make believe. He loves it so much I renewed it 2 times before we broke down and had to buy it for him.

This book has lovely pictures but the author is, perhaps, not well-versed in the English language. Repeatedly, and seemingly at random, the author uses the phrase "It's funny where Ben's train takes him." Here I have to strongly disagree. It is not at all funny where Ben's train takes him (to small towns, through tunnels, to the city, etc.). It is perhaps fun, maybe exciting or interesting, but no, it's not funny.

This book is completely appropriate for those who don't feel compelled to read all of the text to their children. If, however, you are the type of parent who wishes to stay true to the original text, be forewarned-- your children will never score highly on standardized tests of verbal ability. Perhaps they will be forced into a life of manual labor, or maybe even have to tour the country performing as a side act to Lollapalooza in which they eat coal for spare change.

I am always surprised when I find a good book that is only available in the after-market. What's with that?! (LOL).

This book is sweet, a good candidate for a `good night' book, and is bound to appeal to the train-fanatics amongst us. (Certainly my 3 year old son liked it.)

In this story, Ben draws trains and increasingly he, and we, get pulled into his imagination. His blanket becomes hills in the background. His blocks become tunnels, skyscrapers, and trees, and his toys become real cows and horses until at last he comes to the last station, "In my bed".

"Slow, slow, and slower.
Ben nods his head.
And arrives at the station
Called In-My-Bed.

Where filled with travels,
And train-wheel hums,

He'll dream train dreams,
Till morning comes.

Four Stars. A good read-aloud and good-night book. The artwork is sweet and clever and at least my little Thomas fan likes it.

While there are other books in the boy draws train motief -at the moment I'm thinking of Margaret Wise Brown's "Two Little Trains" book- we think this one is better.

Note: `funny' is indeed an difficult word for preschoolers and young children to understand in context. We substitute `interesting' when reading.

Children will love the illustrations in this picture book. Most younger children will have a hard time grasping the subtle humor. Children will have fun searching for things during the ride that are in Ben's room before the adventure starts. Can be good with students learning varying meanings of words in 3rd grade and up to think about what the word funny is meant to mean in the story.

While my 2-year-old likes the pictures, the concepts of imagination and fantasy are apparently over his head. He clearly doesn't understand the concept, although he does enjoy the clip of the rhyming text. My advice: wait until your child is a little older before trying this book.

How dare they let this book go out of print! This is one of the best children's train books around, and I thought it was destined to become a bona fide classic. It's a beautiful book to look at, and has a lovely rhythm which the reader will enjoy. It is Funny Where Ben's Train Takes Him, as the tracks run off the drawing pad, past the toy cows on the bedroom floor, out the window and into a tunnel where they are passed by another train carrying a dinosaur, and back safely into a rural landscape of plowed fields, the checkerboard pattern on his bedspread. I can't recommend this gentle and imaginative book too highly.