Night is falling.

A steam whistle softly calls.

A yawn begins.

It’s time to slip under the covers

And catch the sleep train. . . .

I count the ten sleepy cars

instead of counting sheep.

And I’ll count those cars

until I go to sleep.

I have mixed emotions about this book. On one hand, I like the idea of the book. It has a cute premise. The little boy is in bed at home, and instead of counting sheep to go to sleep, he counts the train cars. His imagination puts him on the sleep train to help him doze off. On the other hand, I didn’t love the execution. It’s supposed to be in rhyme, and a lot of it is. However, I’m not sure what happens with some of it because the rhyming just isn’t there. It’s kind of in and out, and the formatting isn’t consistent.  

I like many of the illustrations and their dream-like feel, but I’m sorry…the little boy looks a little creepy when he’s on the train. He looks fine in the beginning when he’s in his room, but once he’s on the train, he looks like one of those creepy marionette or ventriloquist puppets. I do like the illustrations of the train and its cars though.

The most important part of a children’s book is if the kids will like it. I think they will still enjoy it despite its flaws. Many children love trains, and those children, especially, will have fun with this book.