THE FRIENDSHIP TRIP

Arthur hangs out at the local train station, observing the throngs, waiting for someone to come visit him. No one comes, ever. Wrong station, Arthur concludes, so he hops a train to the next station down the line, only to find a man as hapless as he is, also waiting for a visitor. Together they ride the rails in search of a station where someone will come to visit them. Never happens. Instead, the two find at every station more people waiting for their own Godots. They all join the quest, journeying from station to station, until their numbers equal the population of a small town. At the last stop, after all the stations have been tried, Arthur has a brainstorm. Since they're all friends now, they can visit each other. If the rumpled, frumpy Arthur can find a soulmate or two, Slawski's first book implies, anyone can. In the scratchy lines of the illustrations, the gawky postures of the participants, arresting perspectives of train stations and cities, and festiveness of the gathering crowds is a story that is utterly fetching. (Picture book. 5-8)