The Goodnight Train by June Sobel

The Goodnight Train by June Sobel, illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith

Rating: 5 stars

Sometimes, we just get lucky at the library. Lorelei and Ben have been into trains lately--our little tea table and chair set from IKEA magically turns into a train some days, and we caught glimpses of the Metro while stuck in traffic yesterday. So I ordered up some books from the library after doing a quick search for "trains." We got this book. What a great one!

I don't know about you, but I like books that I read to my kids to put them in the mood to sleep. Crazy idea, I know. This book does just that. I mean, my head is slowly drooping with every page I turn. It is a poem, which of course I love, and after every other stanza there's a train-like sound: Toot toot! Whoooooooooo! Whoooooooo! Choooooooooo! Chooooooooooo! Shhhhhhhhhh! Shhhhhhhhhhhh! then Hush-a, hush-a, hush-a, hush-a, Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Ben is not yet train-crazy, but I hear that this phase is inevitable. I'm going to keep this book in mind the next time we've got a little boy birthday party to celebrate. This book might be one we actually buy...I wish it was available in a board book. (I fully believe that all bedtime books should be available in board books, so at a young age you can read them to your little one and then give them the book so they can read to themselves before they drift off. I'd much rather hand Ben The Goodnight Train than Clip Clop, which is wonderful but way too exciting to read before a nap!)

I just read it again. Now I must go take a nap. Good night!