Riding the Rails: Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lowe

SUN'S UP. MORNING'S HERE! 

UP AND AT 'EM, ENGINEER!

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO!

WHISTLE BLOWS. 

WHOOOOOOOOO! WHOOOOOOOOO!

A Teddy bear and all the toys wave to the engineer and boy as the train as a clown oversees the loading of boxcars and the choo choo pulls out of the station. The old-fashioned locomotive, drivers driving, begin the journey, pulling a coal car, freight cars, and a red caboose. The train winds through the room under a chair and over its rocker as train lovers, a man and boy, a cowboy on horseback, and a barking dog watch it pass. Through the Box Mountains and wooden-blocks pass the little train goes. And then...

INTO THE TUNNELS, UNDERGROUND.

SEE THE DARKNESS, HEAR THE SOUND! WHOOOOOOOOOO!

Then the train crosses the long bridge over the river, and not far ahead is their destination--the city. A dog walker waves to the boy and the engineer as the train slows down for the station, where strong workers wait to unload the freight--a box of penguins and a box of dog bones come off first as the boxcars grow empty.  And then, down goes the sun.

THE JOB IS DONE!

And into the roundhouse the engine, coal car, freightcars, and caboose all head.

It getting dark and it's time for bed, in Kevin Lowe's vintage choo choo story, Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo (Disney Hyperion). With jolly rhymes and the rhythm of the rails, this old-fashioned little train story takes young children gradually and gently toward bedtime, as Daniel Kirk's illustrations mix rounded Playskool-type figures and geometric shapes in soft, muted pastels. Kirk is also the noted illustrator of the popular Library Mouse series, Ten Things I Love About You, and his 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. (See reviews here.)

If Wishes Were Puppies.... Puppy Truck by Brian Pinkney

CARTER WANTED A PUPPY....

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride...." goes the old proverb.

But Carter's wish doesn't get him his snuggly puppy.

HE GOT A TRUCK.

It's a nice truck, and Carter decides to make the best of his gift--in his own way. He clips a leash just behind the truck's cab and walks the truck to the park.

But that's not all. When a gray squirrel frisks across the walkway, the truck gives chase.

Vroom beep bark!

And as an intrigued girl watches in amazement from a park bench, Carter tries to rein in his puppy truck pet. But it shakes off the leash and disappears out of sight.

But the watching girl points out where it's hiding in the bushes, and Carter grabs his puppy truck, and just as he is about to pull it into his lap, his truck does a wheelie and zooms away, but not before Carter climbs on the truck and goes along on the ride. It's Squirrel 1, Puppy Truck 0.

Back home Carter and pet chomp some supper, splish splash in the bath, and catch some Zzzzzzs in Carter's bed.

And when Carter and his puppy truck go back to the park the next day, he discovers the girl, already digging in the sand box, and now she too has a pet--a pussy cat power shovel with a vroom, a bark, and a MEOW.

Magic or imagination, the Caldecott-winning Brian Pinkney's latest picture book, Puppy Truck (Atheneum Books, 2019) makes a standout read-aloud and a book preschoolers will love to "read" to themselves, complete with sound effects. Pinkney's striking, flowing illustrative style, composed of bold black lines and dabs of primary colors, adds to the exuberance of this story of wish-fulfillment fantasy.

Nevertheless She Persisted: The Little Engine That Could by Wally Piper and Loren Long

"I AM NOT VERY BIG. THEY USE ME ONLY FOR SWITCHING ENGINES IN THE YARD. I HAVE NEVER BEEN OVER THE MOUNTAIN," SAID THE VERY LITTLE ENGINE.

THE DOLLS AND THE TOYS WERE READY TO CRY.

"I THINK I CAN. I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN!" SAID THE LITTLE BLUE ENGINE.

AND SHE HITCHED HERSELF TO THE LITTLE TRAIN.

And in some of the most famous lines of twentieth-century literature, Watty Piper's Very Little Engine chugs bravely over the mountain, in a iconic story that over the decades has been published in many editions, from Little Golden Books to large-format picture books.

Now along comes noted children's artist Loren Long to take on the challenge of re-illustrating a major new edition of this classic.

Loren Long has long had an affinity for vintage vehicles, having created the much-loved little old farm tractor Otis, (see reviews here) who has been literally put out to pasture, an outcast in the weeds behind the barn, replaced by a bigger and shinier new tractor with all the bells and whistles. But then he is called out to rescue his friend when all the others fail.

Otis is certainly the storybook descendant of the Little Engine That Could. Loren Long's new illustrations for Piper's beloved book update the Little Blue Engine only by a decade or so, keeping the rounded shapes and anthropomorphic charm of Piper's creation, while adding, as is Long's wont, lovely spreading landscapes of vintage farm pastures and wooded hills often described as Thomas Hart Benton-like. Long's little train, filled with dolls, toy animals, and "good things to eat" continue the mood, the giraffes' heads high above their baggage cars, the elephants' trunks dangling over the sides, as the dolls, led by the clown as spokesman, beg for help from a series of more powerful engines who scorn the little load of toys as beneath their dignity to haul.

Loren Long's new edition keeps the original text intact as the Shiny New Engine, the Big Strong Engine, and the Rusty Old Engine turn down the the clown's plaintive plea, and the task falls to a tiny but plucky little switch engine. Modest but stalwart, she persists to deliver her "jolly load" and the rest is children's literature history. Long's strong but winsome acrylic illustrations are both powerful and charming in this welcome new edition. The theme of the triumph of the small over the large and grand is one that small children have always understood, and for any child who does not have this timeless story, Loren Long's new The Little Engine That Could (Philomel Books, 2017) is a welcome must-have.

Says Publishers Weekly's starred review," “Long . . . adds a lushness to the spreads and injects even more personality into the characters. Both faithful fans and newcomers will enjoy this triumphant ride and eagerly climb aboard for repeat excursions.”

Close Encounters: Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner

"LOOK, MR. WUFFLES, A NEW TOY!"

Mr. Wuffles is a laconic tuxedo cat who finds store-bought cat toys, polka-dotted mice, balls with bells inside, assorted things with feathers--beneath his notice.

But among those pathetic objects that obviously only appeal to those dumb cats, there is ONE thing that has a novel appeal.

It is a football-shaped metal thing with legs, looking like nothing so much a miniature colander with a lid, but obviously it has an enticing smell that intrigues Mr. Wuffles. Strange sounds are emanating from the object, and Mr. Wuffles gives it the cat treatment, rolling over and batting it with his paws, carrying it about in his mouth, and giving it a trial bite.

But inside that apparent toy are five tiny, badly shaken-up space aliens, rubbing their battered green heads and moaning and groaning in their own language, mostly triangles and squares with exclamation points. Their equipment is damaged, too, as  their green-clad chief engineer discovers. Their red-robed captain leads them out of the spacecraft where they are suddenly menaced by a black and white paw with notable claws.  Fleeing under the radiator and  inside the walls,  they meet up with an assortment of household ants and beetles and see that the insects have already chronicled their cat conflicts in cave-style drawings on the internal wall, showing Mr. Wuffles in all his fang-and-claw ferocity!

Despite the language barrier between the minuscule aliens and the assorted hexapods, they form an alliance of convenience against their mutual enemy. They seal their mutual defense pact with a ceremonial feast from the ants' cracker cache. That done. the ants and beetles haul in a supply of roundish objects--screw shanks, pencil erasers--candies--from which the aliens slice disks which they use to repair their engine.

Obviously, a diversionary tactic is going to be required to allow the alien space ship to escape Mr. Wuffles' orbit.  The ants and an airborne ladybug keep the cat distracted long enough for the extraterrestrials to launch their ship through the window just ahead of the disgruntled Mr. Wuffles' claws, which embed themselves in the windowsill as he watches them soar toward space beyond his backyard.

Five-time Caldecott  honoree, David Wiesner, clearly has another winner in his Mr. Wuffles!(Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2013), another of his comedic fantastical stories that concludes quixotically, still leaving the "reader" of this almost wordless book with plenty to ponder. For his tiny space travelers, Wiesner collaborated with a linguist to create a graphic language which kids who love codes and cyphers will enjoy, and his cryptic closing.page will provide readers with plenty of open-ended inspiration to continue the story of Mr. Wuffles and his adversarial allies.

Using his own cat, Cricket, as model, Wiesner creates a central character who is a totally real-looking cat, who like most of his clan, disdains his owner's proffered cat toys without even a sniff. Wiesner's aliens, however, are another story, fanciful robed figures somewhere between humanoid and ant-like, and the collusion between these space travelers and household vermin is a comic contrast to Mr. Wuffles' predictably catlike vigil at the crack beneath the radiator. A master of storytelling in graphic form, Wiesner has the critics in the palm of his paw in this one, a new classic that, as Booklist's reviewer writes, readers will "pounce on."

Shazam! Do Super Heroes Have Teddy Bears? by Carmela L. Coyle

"Do super heroes make capes out of blankies and string?

"We can turn blankies into most anything!"

Sisters can be skeptics.

When a young wannabee super hero straps on a cape and goes forth to do daring deeds, the last thing he needs is a dubious sister questioning his super prerogatives. But that's what sisters do.

"Do super heroes take Teddies along for the ride?"

"That's something super heroes get to decide!"

Hmmmmph! Sister is not convinced. She's got a few more questions. Do those super heroes get bored when there are no bad guys around to defeat? Are they always hyper-courageous? Can they always finish their carrots even when they're not in a carrot-y mood? Do they have a secret hideout when they play hide-and-seek? On and on she goes with the doubting interrogation, finally coming up with the clincher for her high-flying bro.

"Does a super hero always have to help with the chores?

"Unless there's a genie who'll grant us some wishes!"

This super hero has got it covered with more than a cool cape. The super can-do spirit keeps him soaring high all the way through his "trial by sister" in Carmela Coyle's brand-new Do Super Heroes Have Teddy Bears? (Taylor Trade, 2012), quite charmingly illustrated in comic style by Mike Gordon. After totally defining the modern princess in their super-popular Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? and its smashing sequels, Coyle and Gordon turn their talents to that male idol--the caped crusader. Coyle's rhyming couplets keep the question-and-answer narrative rhythm rolling, and Gordon's cute cartoon-style kids keep up the appeal with lots of visual KAPOW! As Publisher's Weekly says, "Gordon’s gently goofy cartoons are always fun, portraying an idyllic existence that includes lots of outdoor adventures, an impressive array of pretend play props, an improbably expressive teddy bear, and a pet dog with superhero aspirations of his own."

A Girl 'n' Her 'Gator: Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator by Mo Willems

Amanda and Alligator are BFFs. Alligator pines and waits impatiently when Amanda is gone from his home in her room, even when she comes back with a stack of library books to read with him. She always has a surprise for him, and sometimes Alligator has a surprise in wait for her!

"SOMETHING TICKLES," SAID ALLIGATOR. AMANDA WAS READING HER LIBRARY BOOK.

"WHAT TICKLES?" SAID AMANDA.

"I DO!" YELLED ALLIGATOR. AND HE DID!

Amanda loves Alligator's silly joke, giggling appropriately as he tickles her, and Alligator is proud of his surprise. But then he notices that something really is tickling him.

"SOMETHING TICKLES!"

"THAT'S A FUNNY JOKE," SAID AMANDA, "BUT I AM NOT GOING TO FALL FOR IT AGAIN."

"NO, REALLY," SAID ALLIGATOR. SOMETHING WAS ATTACHED TO HIS TAIL.

"IT'S A PRICE TAG!" SAID AMANDA."IT SAYS SEVEN CENTS," SAID AMANDA.

"SEVEN CENTS? I AM WORTH ONLY SEVEN CENTS?"

Alligator is crushed. What kind of best friend can be bought for seven cents? How could he be worth so little? Could Amanda really love a seven-cent alligator dug out of the sale bucket? But then Amanda says the only thing that can restore his self-image:

"NO ONE WANTED TO BUY YOU," SAID AMANDA, "BECAUSE THEY KNEW YOU WERE MEANT TO BE MY BEST FRIEND."

Alligator is happy, secure that he is Amanda's best friend for life. But then comes the worse surprise ever.

Amanda goes out and comes back to their room with a brand-new Panda, one that Alligator is sure did NOT come from any sale bucket. Will Alligator be Amanda's best friend no more?

Mo Willems' just-out Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator! (HarperCollins, 2011) adds a new pair to his repertoire of beginning reader best pal books. Willems' easy cartoon style and matter-of-fact style of droll storytelling, best illustrated in his Seuss Award-winning series Elephant and Piggie, here finds a new hero and heroine to explore the dimensions of friendship for the emergent reader.

Tops in Toys: The Marvelous Toy by Tom Paxton

IT WENT ZIP! WHEN IT MOVED.

AND BOP! WHEN IT STOPPED.

AND WHIRR! WHEN IT STOOD STILL.

I NEVER KNEW JUST WHAT IT WAS,

AND I GUESS I NEVER WILL.

Tom Paxton's The Marvelous Toy (Imagine, 2009) is a jolly do-over of his famous folk-style song about the hand-me-down toy with a new life in its second generation of playmates. Illustrated vividly by Steve Cox, this version retells the story of that beloved and inexplicable device, a fascinating toy which never seems to do the same thing twice. Moving in unexpected directions, sprouting a rainbow of indescribable lights and sounds, the thing seems to have a life of its own.

Daddy nonchalantly watches the boy's surprise. It was his toy once, and now he's passing it along, mystery and all. And when the toy seems to vanish from under the chair where it has marched, Daddy just laughs. Not to worry, for...

WHEN I TURNED AROUND, MY MARVELOUS TOY

CAME CHUGGING FROM BEHIND.

With its own CD of this and two other of Paxton's children's songs on board, this beloved tune gets a new life, in this new edition of The Marvelous Toy passed down from one generation to another just like the memorable plaything in the title, reminding us that sometimes a well-loved toy is the best gift.