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50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They'll be coming round the mountain when they come, November 14, 2004
This review is from: Two Little Trains (Hardcover)
When I became a children's librarian there were certain kid obsessions I was expecting. I expected kids to request books about dinosaurs, and unicorns, and magic. What I didn't expect was the overwhelming amount of books requested regarding trains. I thought the love of trains was long past and that kids would have forgotten their shiny chugging ways. But with the popularity of things like "The Polar Express" and "Harry Potter", trains are getting rediscovered all the time. That means any book, picture or otherwise, that capitalizes on this is going to be a hit. There is an abudance of poorly written train fare out there. Then you stumble across something like Margaret Wise Brown's, "Two Little Trains" which was recently reillustrated by the talented Leo and Diane Dillon. It's not only well-written but remarkably beautiful. Any and every young train enthusiast should pluck it up forthwith.
Unlike many picture books, the story told by this one begins on the cover. As we look at this book we see a beautiful sleek silver train resting in a station. Beside it, alongside the track, sit two packed bags and a wrapped present of a toy train. By the time you read the title page the present has been opened (presumably by small hands) and the little train sits silently on the floor awaiting play. Then the words begin. "Two little trains went down the track/ Two little trains went West". On the left hand page sits the grand old silvery sleek train, gearing up to leave the station. On the right hand page you can just barely make out the little toy train as it sits beneath a kitchen chair, readying itself for its journey as well. As the big adult train travels through the countryside, the little toy train does the same, only on a much smaller scale. So when the big train goes through a mountainous tunnel, the little one passes under a propped up book that's entitled "Hills". When the big one goes over a river, the little one rides over the edge of a full bath. Rain on the big train? A bathroom shower on the little one. It continues in this fashion until at last the two trains reach their destinations when, "They had come to the edge of the West".
Widely regarded children's author Margaret Wise Brown originally wrote this story in 1949, possibly with a completely different vision of how it would play out. After all, the text never says that one train is real and that the other a toy. Instead it says that one train was a "streamlined train" and that the other was, "a little old train". So presumably (and I haven't seen the original so I can't really attest to this) this was supposed to be a story about the old and the new trains of the world. Instead, illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon have given the book an entirely new life. The original words by Brown are just as catchy and interesting as they ever were. Incredibly enough, they have not aged. But the pictures are what really give you pause.
Everything in this book is given a kind of rounded sheen in this story. Each surface is deep and clearly delineated. Some of the simplest objects you might find in a home are present here. The Dillons have placed this book in a time that could be anything from 1949 to 2005. Certainly the toys in the child's house are a little old-fashioned, but they're also timeless. There's a bouncy ball, a teddy bear, and a rubber duck. The toy train itself is made of colorful blocks of wood, not something plastic or breakable. The streamlined train appears to be placed in a contemporary world (it's super-sleek) but again there aren't any landmarks that make this clear. Just the usual bridges, cities, and countrysides. I liked the Dillons' choice to never show the child that is playing with the little train. Instead, we occasionally see a rubber ducky noting the toy's progress as it navigates difficult slopes and wet spots. At the end of the story, the little train rests beside a child's bed, the kid in it asleep and turned away from us. We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl, and that's a wonderful thing.
Usually I think that reillustrating old classic picture books is a dangerous occupation. Would you countenance someone drawing new illustrations for "Where the Wild Things Are" or "Millions of Cats"? Of course you wouldn't. But in cases where the original book is forgotten (possibly rightly) I've no qualms about the process in the least. The Dillons have done a remarkable job here, one that I've no doubt will remain a favorite in children's homes for years and years to come. If you want a picture book for your kids that is catchy and bouncy, accompanied by illustrations that never grow old AND that your child will probably adore reading again and again... give "Two Little Trains" a try. A beautiful new interpretation.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
That long steel track to the West..., October 19, 2001
This review is from: Two Little Trains (Hardcover)
This sweet and innocent book weaves the parallel stories of two "little" trains, one real and one a toy. There isn't really a story here, just the moving poem which draws parallels between the real and the toy train -- illustrated with vintage simplicity, in muted colours, by the Dillons. The trains travel up hills and through tunnels, but always with their goal in mind. The toy train's mission is just as important as the big one, and though "professional" reviewers have quibbled with the absence of a child pushing the toy, I see that as a plus -- when a child plays trains, he is not the engineer or a passenger, but the unseen "deus ex machina." I suspect this is one of those books that I enjoy more than my kids (5 and 6); they didn't quite "get it", at first, and though my son is interested in trains, this book isn't really about trains in the sense that he enjoys. Though the parallels might be lost on younger children, that age group would probably respond better to the images of trains and scenery -- real and domestic -- that are so eloquently depicted in this book. ALSO...If your kids like this book, check out Burl Ives' album, "A Twinkle in your Eye," which has a lovely sung/spoken version of this book's verse:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000062EA/
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Successful Journey . . ., July 10, 2004
This review is from: Two Little Trains (Hardcover)
I borrowed this book from our Public Library for my 2-year old train lover (he picked it out for the cover and illustrations), and we both liked it so much that I purchased it on Amazon. The words are simple and rhythmic and tell a simple story of traveling across the country to the west coast. The beautiful pastel illustrations flesh out the words magnificently. They are rich with things to look at, yet very soft and calming at the same time. The parallels presented in the pictures with each left/right spread are wonderfully engaging. For example, I love the real train going through a rainstorm while the toy train runs past the shower in the bathroom! Unlike some of the other reviewers, I believe even young (2 and up) children can understand the parallels between the two train's journeys, even without coaching from their reading partner. "Look, Mommie, the shower is like rain for the toy train!" It is a wonderful vehicle to help children think creatively. For adults, there are even more rewarding subtleties. For example, if you look at the cover, you note the toy train is wrapped in a gift box sitting atop the luggage on the train platform in front of the real train. The title pages show the box unwrapped before the story begins. In the last two pages of the book, the real train reaches its destination, and the toy train is seen on the floor approaching the bed of a sleeping child. I interepreted this as representing that someone who loved the child - a traveling parent, relative, family friend, etc. - had traveled on the real train to the child's home and brought the toy train as a present for the child. The two trains cross mountains and rivers, go through dark tunnels, rain and snow storms, and travel long distances to reach their destinations. As a mother, I found this to be a fine allegory of a parent's love. Neither rain, nor snow, nor fringe on the rug will keep a loving parent from a child's side. Each train faces trials which are difficult in their own measure for the train in question, yet each train ultimately completes its journey successfully. I find the last page - the image of the toy train reaching the sleeping child, to be wonderfuly evocative. Though the book ends there, as I believe it should, one can easily imagine the delighted child coming down the stairs in the morning, carrying the toy train, and looking eagerly for their loved one. I have no idea if that was Ms. Brown's intention, but that is how her book reached me. There are many levels on which to enjoy this book, and I heartily recommend it for age 2 and up along with their reading partners. The sense of coming home to warmth and safety make it a great bedtime book as well.
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