Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Read, Read, Read, said the Baby: Steam Train, Dream Train: Colors by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

The popular picture book series comes to board books with concept titles.

Each spread has a block of color on the left and a matching train car on the right. A simple rhyme introduces the colored car and there is a label. There is a purple engine car, gray tender car, orange well car, pink boxcar, blue tanker, white reefer car, brown flatbed, green well car, yellow crane car, and red caboose. Most of the animals match; a gray elephant, pink hippo, etc. but some are different like a lemur on the blue tanker and there are a couple dinosaurs. I don't know what they're doing there. Kids like dinosaurs?

Lichtenheld's illustrations have all the soft cheer and bright colors of the original picture books. Fun details are included in the pictures of the train cars. The different fonts, from the large letters of the color, medium font of the rhyme, and smaller font of the repeated car title offer a variety of reading experiences.

The board book is a horizontal rectangle with thin cardboard cover and pages. It's not as sturdy as the board books I prefer to purchase, but the popular subject and familiar art will make it a popular purchase.

Verdict: This is definitely aimed at older toddlers and young preschoolers and is of about medium durability. However it will be extremely popular and I recommend it.

ISBN: 9781452149158; Published 2016 by Chronicle; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

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