ANIMALS ABOARD!

Prolific author Peters teams up with Coplestone for this toddler-friendly frolic. A sort of traveling McDonald’s Farm, the jolly train makes its way through hills, tunnels, farms and villages, accumulating animal passengers at every stop. Through the course of the day, the animals dance and sing, all in rhyme, leading up to evening and bedtime. By the end of the day, the animals are all asleep, counting sheep, exhausted from their jubilee. Alliterative text with plenty of familiar animal sounds will without doubt encourage the lively participation of young listeners. Text placement within the illustrations creates the illusion of movement and rhythm. Coplestone sometimes overcrowds the pages with too much extraneous movement, but generally his illustrations are a worthy accompaniment to the vibrant text, with the noise and chaos it implies. Lots of fun, and a storytime must. (Picture book. 3-6)