All Aboard for Dreamland
by Melanie Harby, illustrated by Geraldo Valério
PreS-Gr 2—Written in rhyme with playful language, this picture-book fantasy with rollicking artwork makes a fun read. A whistle blows. Children, adults, and animals board a locomotive for an imaginative ride to Dreamland. The train's inventive cars and lively, abstract cartoonlike passengers zig zag, make loopy loops, and clickety-clack across the bouncy railroad tracks, passing through "Wiggletown," "Giggletown," "Yawwwwwn," "Groggy Grove," and "Snuggle Cove." The energetic train gradually slows as dozing passengers arrive in Dreamland. Watercolor and marker artwork with accents of graph-paper shapes convey the tale's changing moods. This entertaining bedtime story is a worthy choice for most collections. — Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH
"All aboard for Dreamland!" is the clarion call of this rhythmic bedtime read-aloud that opens with a giant megaphone blaring out a wavy set of railroad tracks. Train purists, though, will have to use their imaginations, as the first vehicle on the track is a white unicorn on wheels, transporting a motley crew of beaming, big-nosed passengers. The magical mystery train transmogrifies next into a series of wheeled buildings: "Full steam ahead to Wiggletown! / We zoom down Zig Zag Hill, / winding 'round and upside down / till no one can sit still." As the train chugs through the land of Strrrretch ("Chugga-chugga chuckle!"), a taffy-like pink elephant tickles its ears with its toes. As in many bedtime stories, the illustrations optimistically invoke the power of suggestion; the characters get sleepy and close their eyes as the train heads into "the drowsy town of Yawwwwwn." Valerio's brightly colored, stylized paintings, textured with visible brushstrokes
and the occasional cutout piece of graph paper, are just jaunty enough to fuel this giddy trip to Dreamland. (Picture book. 2-4) --
Kirkus Reviews 5/15/08
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