It's Funny Where Ben's Train Takes Him - Hardcover

Burleigh, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531301060 ISBN 13: 9780531301067

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1999

Synopsis

Ben's amazing imagination concocts a magical train that takes bedtime adventurers from snowy mountain peaks to green hills sprinkled with cows and horses to city skyscrapers.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 2-Ben draws a train and tracks with his crayons and then climbs aboard for a "magical ride." His imaginary journey takes him through city and country and ends just in time for bed. The short, rhyming verses are punctuated by a catchy refrain: "It's funny where Ben's train takes him." This phrase, however, may be confusing to children who only know "It's funny..." in the comedic sense, not in the more sophisticated sense that Burleigh intends it. Yardley's watercolor illustrations work perfectly with the text to bridge the leap between reality and imagination. Many of the paintings include a piece of Ben's drawing paper, reminding children that this trip is not real. The illustrations include numerous toys-a city is made from wooden blocks, plastic cows graze on a bedspread pasture, and a stuffed rabbit waits in a car at a railroad crossing. The short text, easy-to-grasp plot, and repeated refrain make this a good storytime choice. It will also please young train enthusiasts while encouraging them to take similar trips of their own.
Susan Marie Pitard, Weezie Library for Children, Nantucket Atheneum, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

A boy draws a train one night right before bedtime, then climbs aboard for a "magical ride." In his imagination he crosses mountains and rivers, through cities and towns, until he arrives at his final destination, a whistlestop called "In-My-Bed," where "filled with travels,/ And train-wheel hums,/ He'll dream train dreams/ Till morning comes." Burleigh's (Flight) excursion travels a well-worn track. The rhymed couplets never rise above the pedestrian, and the refrain ("It's funny where Ben's train takes him") quickly becomes a tiresome interruption. Yardley's (The Bracelet) watercolors intersperse fantasy and reality somewhat erratically; a few nice touches, such as the star motif on Ben's pajamas echoed on the train's coal car, are overshadowed by the overall stock approach (a "track" created in crayon by the boy repeatedly intersects a realistic rendering of the rails; the fully realized engine chugs onto a patchwork countryside that turns out to be the quilt on Ben's bed). Contrary to the title, readers won't find much humor here. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0531301060
• ISBN 13: 9780531301067
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Yardley Joanna