Tracks: All Aboard for the Wackiest Train Ride Ever! [Hardcover]

David Galef (Author), Tedd Arnold (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996 | Age Level: 4 and up

Bing, bing, bing! There's a railroad line being built between Granville and Denton.

But with nearsighted Albert laying the tracks, the passengers had better hang on to their seats.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's a straight shot from the town of Granville to Denton, as a map on this book's title page shows. However, when railroad builder Albert breaks his glasses, he imagines he sees all sorts of obstacles and instructs his crew to lay tracks every which way to avoid them: "A herd of cows was grazing, but to Albert they looked like gray and white boulders. 'We must go around these large rocks,' he announced... THUD, BING, moo! The track zigzagged all over the pasture." When Albert and his team finish, they've constructed a crowd-pleasing roller-coaster ride between the two towns. Galef (The Little Red Bicycle) enhances the text with onomatopoeic train sounds ("CHUFFA-CHUFFA-CHUFF") and humorous quacks and cheeps of bewildered animals along the route. Arnold, author of such wacky action romps as No More Water in the Tub! and Green Wilma, provides watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations in Midwest-inspired hues of corn yellow, caboose red and sky blue. Images of frenetic rail workers in a cloud of dust, and an unsuspecting cow going for a sudden ride on the cow-catcher, convey the narrative's nonstop energy. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2?This jolly tale in which Albert, the head of railroad construction, directs the laying of new track from Granville to Denton, is hilariously illustrated and should become a read-aloud favorite. Albert accidentally smashes his glasses but does not have time to return home for his spare pair. Consequently, he directs his workers to put the tracks in what appear to him as a level meadow, a field of gray and white boulders, a red hill, and a green mountain, but what are in reality a pond, a herd of cows, a barn, and a grove of pines. The next day, the opening of the new line is quite an exciting experience for the first passengers. Albert, now wearing his glasses, is appalled at what he has wrought, but the riders are actually thrilled by the surprising ups and downs of their journey. Inventive, action-filled full- and half- page cartoons show the funny scenes. The technique is close to caricature, and the medium is cheery watercolors embellished with colored-pencil squiggles for interesting texture. The easy-to-read, lively text has a lot of onomatopoetic sounds such as thud, bing, cheep, and quack to add to the fun.?Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688133436
• ISBN-13: 978-0688133436
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,075,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Tracks" makes my son laugh out loud, December 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tracks: All Aboard for the Wackiest Train Ride Ever! (Hardcover)

This is an infectiously silly story, and my 5-year-old son howls when we read it together. We first picked it up on impulse because it had a train on the cover (my son loves trains) but it soon became a favorite bedtime story for its own engaging goofiness. The illustrations are part of the charm as well. You won't be sorry you tried this one!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, especially if you have a train obsessed child, January 22, 2008

By 

minpin (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tracks: All Aboard for the Wackiest Train Ride Ever! (Hardcover)

I agree with the previous poster. This book is really fun, silly and the illustrations are very cute. My kids love it and my husband and I don't mind reading it either (if you're like us, you are sick and tired of Thomas the Tank engine books!!!!). If your child is train obsessed, like my two boys are, this is an added plus! I also think that little girls would enjoy this book as well.