Changes

There's such a sense of movement, of hurry about this book that it's impossible not to be caught up in it. I've read it several times now and each time I've been conscious of the excitement building as the train gets more and more overloaded and Bella and Ben steer their way onward. Eventually , they realise that there are too many animals getting on board:

Eventually , Chuffa Luffa and all his passengers arrive at the seaside and you'll really feel part of the fun and games, but soon it's time for everyone to go home and for Ben and Bella to go to bed.

This book has it all - it's a fun text to read aloud. It's impossible to read it and not sound as though you're a train running along the rails as the excitement builds and gradually dies away. So often with children's books , the text lets the illustrations down or vice versa, but in ''Big Blue Train'' both are excellent. The illustrations are by Adrian Reynolds whom you might know from ''Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs'' or [[Harry and the Snow King]] which we recently reviewed. His illustrations are always deceptively simple but manage to lift any story out of the ordinary. He doesn't simply illustrate the text - he adds to it and every page has something to 'spot'. Look out for camel playing in the sea - wearing a rubber ring. The picture that will stay with me the longest though is polar bear waving goodbye as the sun sets over the snow. Splendid.

For a book with a similar sense of movement and excitement , we can recommend [[Roar]] by Margaret Mayo or Maurice Sendak's [[Where the Wild Things Are]]. But the one you will really love is [[Rattletrap Car]] by Phyllis Root. We also enjoyed [[When Baby Lost Bunny by Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds]].