The Littlest Train

by Chris Gall

Overview

In this endearing story of a tiny toy train, the creator of the hit series Dinotrux now breathes life into more than a half-dozen trains that climb, haul, chug, zip, and zoom.

In a small room, down a short flight of stairs, there lives a little toy train...about to have a BIG adventure! There's an endless world to explore, and awe-inspiring new friends to meet. Mighty Max, Chloe Cogs, Sara Speedster, and Farley Freighter can reach all the best sights, lickety-split. But when the day is done and the sun goes down, will the littlest train find his way home? Calling all train lovers: All aboard!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780594089049
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/01/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	422,370
Product dimensions:	11.10(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Chris Gall is the award-winning author and illustrator of Revenge of the Dinotrux, Substitute Creacher, Dear Fish, There's Nothing to Do on Mars, and Dinotrux, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2009. His books have received numerous starred reviews and awards including a Borders Original Voices Book for 2006 for Dear Fish and a Kirkus Best Children's Book for 2008 for There's Nothing to Do on Mars. Chris has won a multitude of awards from organizations like the Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts Magazine, and is also the illustrator of America the Beautiful, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2004. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/19/2017
Having gone big in Dinotrux and microscopic in NanoBots, Gall does a bit of both, sending a tiny train on an enormous adventure. After being accidentally knocked off a tabletop town of crisscrossing wooden tracks (“It was the only neighborhood he had ever known”), the train travels through a mouse hole “tunnel” to the outside world and meets life-size trains of all kinds, including a steam locomotive, cog railway engine, rotary snowplow train, and commuter train. Gall lightly anthropomorphizes the trains, giving them bright eyes, friendly grins, and names such as Mighty Max and Chloe Cogs. Working together, the toy train’s new friends deliver him back where he belongs: “At one hundred and fifty miles per hour, we’ll get you home lightning quick,” boasts Sara Speedster, a bullet train. Boldly colored and textured with crisp, engravinglike lines, Gall’s epic panoramas highlight the grand scale of the train’s journey through hilly green farmland and craggy golden canyons. Train fans getting ready to graduate from Thomas the Tank Engine will enjoy getting to know a new crew in this feast for the imagination. Ages 4–8. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary Studio. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Littlest Train:


*"Boldly colored and textured with crisp, engraving-like lines, Gall's epic panoramas highlight the grand scale of the train's journey.... Train fans...will enjoy getting to know a new crew in this feast for the imagination."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

*"This well-plotted and suspenseful story of disruption, adventure, and hero's return will have massive appeal for all train lovers, as it showcases the steam locomotive, cog railway engine, bullet train, and freight train, not to mention a crowded switching yard. ... Being little has never been so grand."
—Booklist, starred review

"A perfect choice for storytime or one-on-one sharing."—School Library Journal

"Chris Gall combines the joy of toy trains with the muscular glamour of real ones.... Rich colors and clean, elegant illustrations add a touch of enchantment to this satisfying tale."
—The Wall Street Journal

"[A} colorful adventure."
—The New York Times

From the Publisher

07/01/2017
PreS-Gr 2—Railway lovers will relish Gall's latest offering. A little train, who has known only the "tiny town" he has spent his days circling, sees his world derailed when Mr. Fingers arrives, demolishing all he has ever known. After getting knocked over by a crane, he tumbles "down, down, down and into a brand-new world." The little train meets a variety of big trains who take him on many exciting adventures with myriad new sights to take in. The digitally created artwork's use of bold lines, bright colors, and expressive faces brings the trains to life, letting them burst with personality. A mix of oblong paneling and full spreads captures the energy of each train and the rich worlds they inhabit, propelling the narrative forward. Several spreads, with minimal to no text, of vast landscapes will absorb readers. The tale ends on a satisfying note as the little hero makes it home to find his tiny town is now an expanded world with new train friends and more tracks to explore. An author's note with information about the trains will appease young train buffs. VERDICT A must-buy for all libraries where train books are in demand. A perfect choice for storytime or one-on-one sharing.—Danielle Jones, Multnomah County Library, OR

School Library Journal

2017-06-27
A bildungsroman for the toy locomotive set. A little train spends his days immersed in a lovely life circling his little toy town. But when Mr. Fingers, the hand that controls the little train's world, accidentally knocks the toy to the floor, a mouse hole provides an avenue for exploration. Once he starts looking around, a series of real trains, from steam locomotives to freighters to bullet trains, show the little toy the wider world. Yet when he wants to return home, he finds the means and the method more difficult than expected. Fortunately a lucky break leads to a happy ending. An afterword provides additional information about each type of train featured in the book. With digital art reminiscent of the woodcuts of old, Gall strives to evoke a bygone era of children's literature and largely succeeds. The look is complemented by classic storybook language, as in the opening line: "In a small room, down a short flight of stairs, there lived a little train." He proves himself unafraid to simultaneously summon the awe-inspiring size and power of locomotives and the cozy comforts of a child's beloved toy. Kids will get a special kick out of comparing the similarities between the toys of Mr. Fingers' world and the real world the little train explores. A modern-day book with a classic feel that is delicately flavored with a sweet undercurrent of everyday compassion. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews