Hey! Get Off Our Train (Dragonfly Books) [Paperback]

John Burningham (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Dragonfly Books

Illus. in full color.

An IRA Children's Choice
A Parents' Choice Award winner for illustration
A California Children's Book Award winner

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One night, as a little boy goes to sleep clutching his pajama-case dog, he drifts off into an elaborate, imaginative journey by train. But what's this? One endangered animal after another--an elephant, a seal, a tiger--tries to join the boy and his dog on their global junket.

"Please let me ride on your train. I live in the frozen North and somebody wants my fur to make a coat out of, and soon there will be none of us left," says the polar bear.

At first the boy and his dog are reluctant to let the animals on the train--"Hey! Get off our train!" they shout--but as each critter explains its particular plight, they welcome it on board. Children will learn about the perils facing animals around the world--tusk taking, pollution, marsh draining, deforestation--but they'll also be happy to see the boy and his dog rescuing the animals one by one. John Burningham has a knack for keeping the mood playful while communicating a strong environmental message. With his strikingly original illustrations and gently rhythmic text, this highly acclaimed author- illustrator well deserves his Parents' Choice Award for this unusual book. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1999 by John Burningham. With permission of Crown Publishers, Inc.) (Ages 4 and older)

From Publishers Weekly

Burningham's witty, pointed story describes how a boy and his stuffed-toy dog rescue various endangered animals during a nighttime trip aboard a toy train. Ages 4-9.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Dragonfly Books (July 5, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517882043
• ISBN-13: 978-0517882047
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 0.2 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Whimsical Than Dark, A Marvelous Book!, December 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hey! Get Off Our Train (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Dragonfly Books) (School & Library Binding)

This book features two seminal kid pleasers--animals and trains. I am a teacher who has read the book to dozens of children who have really enjoyed it. I would like to defend it agains the "dark" criticism. In my experience, children haven't been scared, upset or bothered by the story or the illustrations. They have been empathetic however, and perhaps that bothers some adults. The illustrations are lovely, misty, giving a feeling of riding the train out at sunset around the world. The little boy hero of the story has fun, whimsical adventures with all of the animals. My experience with kids is that they like the illustrations and smile when when they discover an interesting detail hidden in the mist. The story has a positive message--the little boy finds room on his train for all the animals, and they end up at his house. Perhaps the ending is simplistic and overly optomistic for some, but it's a little kids fantasy story! I believe the underlying message is positive and possible, that we can make room in our lives to exist in peace with all G-d's creatures. I have had kids act out this story as a skit and make animal cosutmes, and they had a ball doing that. Also, kids could make up other adventures for the little boy and his train, involving other endangered animals. One of the best books I have found for young kids that tells about endangered species in a poetic way, which helps them understand the basic concepts involved. Again, it is simplistic, but this book is for pre-schoolers and early elementary kids who are just being introduced to the topic. Although the third and fourth graders who did the skit liked it as well! It could spark discussions with kids about what's really going on in the world with endagered species, and what people can or should do about it, but that's our job as parents and teachers, to help kids cope with and understand life with all it's highs and low and contradictions.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HEY!!!!!, June 15, 2009

By 

Kathryn L. Sutherland (Sewickley, Pa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hey! Get Off Our Train (Dragonfly Books) (Paperback)

Our son knew by heart when to holler out, "Hey! Get off our train." I doubt that the message of extinction was even subliminally taken in. It was the joy of yelling its title over and over that made our son so happy.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Message: Animals Are Our Friends, August 7, 2003

By 

Marilyn Peake "Author - SILVER AWARD and 8 Fi... (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hey! Get Off Our Train (Dragonfly Books) (Paperback)

HEY! GET OFF OUR TRAIN is a fun book for children. The book may appear somewhat dark to adults; but that is possibly because we're torn over how to treat endangered species. From the child's point of view, this is a book about a boy who takes a magical train ride with rare and unusual animals. It's fun; it's exciting! It shows a boy who makes room on his train for all of the animals who ask for his help. Because the train looks like his toy train, there is a hint that the train ride may exist only in his imagination. But, in the end, it seems that his nighttime train ride was real. This is great fun for children!