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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780517882047
ISBN number: 0517882043
Label: Dragonfly Books
Manufacturer: Dragonfly Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 48
Printing Date: July 05, 1994
Publishing house: Dragonfly Books
Age index: Ages 4-8
Release Date: July 05, 1994
Sale Popularity Level: 306490
Studio: Dragonfly Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Illus. in full color.
An IRA Children's Choice
A Parents' Choice Award winner for illustration
A California Children's Book Award winner
Amazon.com Review:
One night, as a little boy goes to sleep clutching his pajama-case dog, he drifts off into an elaborate, imaginative journey by train. But what's this? One endangered animal after another--an elephant, a seal, a tiger--tries to join the boy and his dog on their global junket.
'Please let me ride on your train. I live in the frozen North and somebody wants my fur to make a coat out of, and soon there will be none of us left,' says the polar bear.
At very first the boy and his dog are reluctant to let the animals on the train--'Hey! Get off our train!' they shout--but as each critter explains its particular plight, they welcome it on board. Children will learn about the perils facing animals around the world--tusk taking, pollution, marsh draining, deforestation--but they'll also be happy to see the boy and his dog rescuing the animals one by one. John Burningham has a knack for keeping the mood playful while communicating a strong environmental message. With his strikingly original illustrations and gently rhythmic text, this highly acclaimed author- illustrator well deserves his Parents' Choice Award for this unusual book. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1999 by John Burningham. With permission of Crown Publishing houses, Ltd.) (Ages 4 and older)
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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My daughter loves this book. It captivates her imagination in a way no other book does. She asks for it by author, in fact.
"John Burningham book, mommy?"
I know that part of what she loves is the mild naughtiness of yelling out, "Hey! Get off my train!" Something she'd never be allowed to do in life. She knows the sequence of the weather and how they connect with what's going to be imagined for play by heart. Honestly, it's hard to convey what "foggy" is unless you happen to have some of it, and in upstate NY it's mostly foggy in the very early morning, or late night, but this book finally got the idea across. She never takes any notice of what people hunting or clear cutting or anything like that means, and I don't undertake to explain it. That part, for us, is just the reasonthe animals want to get on the train. Hitchcock had a word for this kind of plot mechanism: the MacGuffin. The thing everyone talks about that the reader doesn't care about, but gives everyone in the story the impetus be doing their thing.
Anyways, one day we were on the Erie canal and we saw a crane, and my little 3 year old says to me, "Look mommy, a crane!" And I knew exactly where she recognized it from, because it's not as if cranes live in our backyard, so that says something about how wonderful the illustrations are. And I do absolutely love how the little boy conveys so much meaning with so few words. "Don't make too much noise with the shovel," is all he says, but instantly you're cast as a co-conspirator, sneaking out on a grand adventure to who knows where.
I understand the other posters negative comments about the environmentalism nonsense and the rude mother, but it is a book meant for children, not parents, and after all, we are right there to talk about how out-of-it the mother is by the child's standards. Parents do talk to their children in that way. It serves as a reminder to me that sometimes I exasperate my child as much as she does me, and there can't be any harm in that.
Rated by buyers 
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My kindergartener brought this book home from the library - his very very first book to bring home. He was so excited! The illustrations are fantastic - I know that is why he chose it.
The story is about a little boy who goes to sleep, and dreams about endangered species wanting to come and ride his train with him, to escape dying (basically!). The elephant talks about having his tusks cut off, the polar bear about having his fur used for fur, the tiger about the forest being chopped down, and so on...it is a very depressing book. I believe there are other ways to teach children about how to be good to the environment, and nature, rather than laying all this on them - they can not do anything about it at this young age!
I do not recommend this book. It was a waste of time.
Mom of three under the age of 5!!
Rated by buyers -
I checked this book out of the library for my 2 1/2-year old son for 2 weeks. He brought this book to me and asked me to read it to him ALL THE TIME. At the end of the 2 weeks, I renewed it for another 2 before returning it. While it may not be MY favorite children's book, it certainly is his, and shouldn't that be what matters to us moms? I am planning to give him this book for Christmas since he still asks for the "train book" everyday. If he hears me say "hey" he instantly squeals "Get off our train!" Obviously this book left a lasting impression on him and that's more important to me than whether the illustrations should or should have not won the Parents' Choice Award.
Rated by buyers -
HEY! GET OFF OUR TRAIN is a fun book for children. The book may appear somewhat dark to adults; but that is possibly because we're torn over how to treat endangered species. From the child's point of view, this is a book about a boy who takes a magical train ride with rare and unusual animals. It's fun; it's exciting! It shows a boy who makes room on his train for all of the animals who ask for his help. Because the train looks like his toy train, there is a hint that the train ride may exist only in his imagination. But, in the end, it seems that his nighttime train ride was real. This is great fun for children!
Rated by buyers -
First the good news. The art is beautiful. This is a lovely book. If it had no words, I would recommend it enthusiastically.
However...
On the very first and last pages, the mother is rude. In the rest of the book, you can see that her son has been paying attention, because he is rude.
And then you get the politically correct dreck. "'I live in the frozen North and somebody wants my fur to make a coat out of, and soon there will be none of us left,' says the polar bear." Um, was my five year old considering buying a polar bear fur coat? No? Then how is this frightening scenario useful to him? It isn't. It's propaganda. It is the least subtle propoganda aimed at small children that I've ever read.
Gawdawful.
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