Karen Blair, Train Party, Penguin Random House Australia, July 2021, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760899578
For the young boy in this delightful book, a family birthday celebration at the miniature steam engine track park is obviously a dream come true. This is a happy story from start to finish and will appeal to children from a very young age. The text uses rhyming couplets involving a repeated refrain clickety-clack which creates a lovely rhythm and will encourage participation, fully engaging young children.
The first feature of this story is the map of the train tracks on the endpapers which firmly establishes the setting and gives the reader a chance to see exactly where the little trains travel. Exquisitely drawn and brightly coloured illustrations show the action from a variety of angles with the intention of drawing the reader into the story. It depicts the love and attention that the friendly train drivers have for their craft while they get the trains ready to go. Readers then see the drivers take the children and their parents on the ride around the park in their little trains. The last scene presents a number of birthday celebrations involving a range of ages and cultural backgrounds and provides further discussion points for the reader.
This is a book that will resonate with a wide range of readers and will also provide conversations about the various birthday celebrations that they have experienced in the past or hope to in the future.
Reviewed by Gabrielle Anderson (CBCA Early Childhood Judge 2022)
