Last Train

The Last Train by Gordon M. Titcomb

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The illustrations are gorgeous! My grandson loved looking at the pictures. He LOVES trains. However the illustrations are what make the book. The story was only so so. I just wish the story had been more about trains less about memories. Kids today are fascinated with trains.



Not one to add to my collection.

Booklist (September 15, 2010 (Vol. 107, No. 2))
Preschool-Grade 2. Train lovers will have reason to delight in musician Titcomb’s bittersweet song turned picture book. A succinct paean to American railroading in lilting rhymes, the story is told from the viewpoint of a boy whose grandfather was an engineer, and father a station master. But now, the child explains, “The tracks that shone like silver, have turned to rusty brown,” and mementos of the past—a ticket punch, a union card, even track-flattened pennies that “look like little metal tears”—are stored in a cigar box. The sadness of faded history, however, is mitigated by Minor’s illustrations showing proud railroad employees and the shiny, powerful machines they labored on. The warm tones of passenger-car windows, the coal engines, and golden fields play against the cool blues of denim work clothes, the deep night sky, and burnished steel. The whole makes for a romantic read, and the afterword, with its reference to classic railroad songs, and a final list of railroad history Web sites will surely encourage exploration of iron-horse music and history.




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