HERE COMES THE TRAIN

Voake (Ginger, 1997, etc.) coaxes wonders from scant text and spare, deft watercolors that detail the pleasures of waiting on a bridge for a train to pass underneath. A father and his two young children—Chloe and William—bike down to the narrow, high footbridge over the tracks every Saturday. They are joined by a few other folk, all expectations and grins. Finally, when the signals go green, a speck appears in the distance: “Louder and louder, nearer and nearer, it comes!” Sparks fly; the engineer hoots his horn—“Beep-BARP!”—and the train dives under the bridge. “The bridge rattles and shakes. Chloe SCREAMS because she thinks it will fall down. All the other children scream because they like screaming!” Then there is only one thing to do—wait for the next one. It all rings true because Voake is careful in her choice of words and spot on in the perspectives she brings to these scenes: When the train bears down on the spotters above, it is not hard to imagine the thrill and whoosh of an oncoming locomotive—a momentous event worthy of all the anticipation. (Picture book. 5-10)