All Aboard the Dinotrain by Deb Lund and illustrated by Howard Fine
Review by Chris Singer
About the author (from a bio on her website):
When I was little, I hated watermelon, mustard, and black licorice. The year my sister asked for a bride doll for Christmas, I asked for a tractor. I learned to ride my bicycle in one day, proudly wearing all the scrapes I got. In first grade I had to stand in the corner. In second grade I had to sit out in the hallway. In fifth grade, my teacher sent in a poem I had written and it was published in a book of student writing called “Wonder Writers.” I was hooked. I write for children because I remember what it’s like to be a kid, or maybe part of me never grew up. I still like to do some things other people think are silly. I can unicycle, hula-hoop, and juggle, but not at the same time. I’ve learned to like watermelon and some kinds of mustard, but I still don’t like black licorice.
About the illustrator (from the bio on his website):
When I was born, I was a baby, but it didn’t last. I did my first drawing as a wee lad of two years of age. I told my mother that it was an astronaut floating in space. She still believes it. I don’t believe there were any astronauts floating free in space way back in 1963.
As a kid, I enjoyed drawing pictures. I have included a couple of those pictures here. I also liked to play with Lego and couldn’t resist teasing my sister, Jessica. I particularly loved fourth and fifth grade at the Beechwood School in Mountainside, New Jersey.
About the book:
They stoke the boiler, stow the luggage, and when hills are steep, they even get out and push. That’s right, the thrill-seeking daredevil dinosaurs from Dinosailors are back, and now they’re riding a train. But this train is more like a roller coaster–up, down, and faster and faster, until the dinos realize the brakes are out!
Laughs and thrills abound in this rip-snorting tale of reckless reptiles and their runaway train.
My take on the book:
Deb Lund follows up her first dino adventure by boat with this fun Jurassic-inspired train adventure. I can’t imagine too many young boys not enjoying a book with both trains and dinosaurs! I’m pleased to tell you though that from first-hand experience of sharing this book with my daughter, young girls will enjoy this read as well.
The fantastic pictures and fun rhymes captured my daughter’s attention and I was pleasantly surprised she sat through an entire reading on our first attempt. The best part for me though is that the pictures inspired my daughter to ask questions, namely “What is the dinosaur doing? I answered this question for her on every page and was able to tell her because the story has each of the six dinosaurs doing one of six jobs on the train. I was really impressed and pleased by this as I didn’t expect this book to make the impact it did.
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