THE SLEEPER TRAIN... ALL ABOARD!

I'm very nostalgic about trains, though I only rode on one once, as a child, for a very short trip. (Or occasionally at the zoo with kids!). Sleeping at our grandparents' Kentucky home meant vibrating through the night to the rumble of trains as they passed by just thirty feet across the road.  Or "racing" trains on tracks parallel to the highway as Dad drove us to Kentucky and back to Ohio, counting train cars, hoping that the man in the caboose would wave back when they inevitably passed us up. My bucket list still includes a cross-country train trip. We'll see....

Candlewick Press, 2025

Meanwhile, back to picture books! THE SLEEPER TRAIN obviously appealed to me from the start. It depicts experiences rooted in a culture halfway around the planet but offering universal connection in its emotional explorations and memories. Written by Mick Jackson and illustrated by Baljinder Kaur, this is a delightfully illustrated story of a girl and her family as they travel to visit relatives. The train itself frames the story, as the girl's first-person narration reveals her family's journey, her excitement about using a fold-down bed in their cabin, and then her struggle to fall asleep. As might be predicted, readers join her in viewing the station, their night travels through and near cities, and her struggle to calm herself and fall asleep. Then, page turns each reveal her memory of strategies to deal with  sleeplessness. 

There will be plenty of readers who find the vibrant and detailed illustrations both welcome and familiar, a rare opportunity to see themselves and their homeland on picture book pages. For others, though, this will be less a mirror and more of a window or sliding door to a world filled with new images and locations, yet deeply familiar experiences. She activates her past efforts to find sleep, remembering happy times: a recent vacation, napping at the beach under a soothing sun, family camping, and even a scary time in the hospital when her family stayed at her side to comfort her. Her memories reveal that such universal experiences are global, while the specifics in culture, clothing, and styles clearly reveal their Middle-East setting. Morning brings the family to the dining car and the final page turn is utterly perfect. (Another memory to be called on some sleepless night in the future). 

For anyone traveling, during holidays or otherwise, this is a rich experience, a delight for eyes and hearts.💕 Trainlovers will be delighted, and parents of struggling sleepers will appreciate the self-regulation described. Kids will be begging for train rides!  If that isn't in the foreseeable future (or even if it IS), check out Marsha Diane Arnold's recent BIG BOY, HERE.