After moving to a house in the country, Timothy wonders how he will make any friends, but his problem is solved when he finds an imaginative way to rescue a stranded circus train.
Timothy and his family have just moved out to the boonies, to a lovely farmhouse in the middle of a lovely field. What ISN'T lovely is how far away he is from everything (the closest town is aptly named "Yonderville." How will he make friends all the way out in the middle of the fields?
An opportunity unexpectedly comes his way when a circus train takes a wrong turn and ends up on the abandoned tracks that run past Timothy's house. Unable to turn around, and unable to go forward, the clowns and elephants and performers are stuck--until Timothy uses his ingenuity (and the convenient warping of reality) to have the elephants inflate the train and blow it into Yonderville! Needless to say, he is the hero of the day and has plenty of friends after that!
The fantastical turn of events of the book make this more appropriate for younger children...A little older child might roll their eyes. Still, the illustrations are delicate and lovely.
Another great library find! The illustrations are BEAUTIFUL - deep water colors with colored pencil added - amazing. I would love to find more books illustrated by him. The story line was...okay. Kind of fantastical - but Jack loved it and loved the elephants blowing up the train with their trunks!
The story had a a fantasy/magical element to it. I liked the circus train aspect of it. The illustrations are very pretty, though I can't imagine the clowns would normally travel in full, colorful performance dress and makeup.