All Aboard

by Mary Lyn Ray, Unknown Author

Choong. Choong. Choong. Choong. A train slows to a stop at a station. "All aboard!" A little girl and her stuffed rabbit climb on the train as it leaves the city and travels through the day and the night, all the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Author Biography: Mary Lyn Ray writes from her old farm where she lives in South Danbury, New Hampshire, unless she's on a train. She is the author of the acclaimed Basket Moon, illustrated by Barbara Cooney, as well as many other picture books.

Amiko Hirao was born and raised in Japan, and completed a degree in art history before coming to the U.S. and graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Genres: Picture Books, Trains, Transport, Childrens, Fiction, Rabbits, Animals

Unknown Binding

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Mary Lyn Ray is a conservationist and author of several picture books for children. She was born in Louisiana in 1946 and grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. Ray has lived in New England since 1964, when she first came east to attend college. She currently lives in a 150-year-old farmhouse in South Danbury, New Hampshire, which she restored herself.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really adorable story. Great for helping kids with sounds.

[Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

All Aboard by Mary Lyn Ray
Illustrated by Amiko Hirao
Published by Little, Brown and Company
2002
Fiction: Picture Book
Ages 4-8

All Aboard! follows a young girl and a rabbit named Mr. Barnes as they enjoy a train ride. They sleep in the sleeper cars, eat breakfast in the meal car and just stare out the window at the sites. Eventually Mr Barnes reaches his stop and we realize that he is just the little girl's stuffed toy rabbit.
The illustrations are very different depending upon the setting. Inside the train there are lots of details and action, while the outside drawings are much less detailed and more still. The illustrator also makes use of many different perspectives and angles which make the illustrations interesting.
I didn't really like how the text switches around from fragments, detailed full sentences, and onomatopoeia. It made the story seem jumpy and disjointed, rather than flowing swiftly and smoothly. The ending was a pleasant surprise and explained all of the other animals on the trains. It did seem, however, like suggested in the readings that the author just wanted an excuse to draw animals.

[Lu's Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhhhhhhhh. Goodnight, Good Dog is a solid gold smash hit in this house. It gets read constantly and the little fuzzy cover is almost de-fuzzed. So, of course I checked out as many Mary Lyn Ray books as our library had on hand.
Lu likes trains, but this book still was a stretch for him. The focus on the white rabbit was very strange for him ("What about the girl? The girl right there! What's her name? Why she with the rabbit?") and too wink-wink for me with all the Goodnight Moon and Wonderland hints thrown in. The illustrations aided in feeling askew due to the fish-eye lens perspective with random warps. It was unsettling to look at. And the end? The little girl was on a train alone for days? Really??

(Library book, September 2019)

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story centers around a rabbit who is taking a trip of several days on the train. The text varies between fragments, onomatopoeia, and full sentences. This is obviously supposed to invoke a train-like rhythm, but it falls flat because of the constant shifting. The pictures all have a little girl with the rabbit, but never mention her. At the end it turns out that she's been traveling alone (for several days) to visit her grandparents and the rabbit is just her stuffed toy. As adults, we got this from the first page, but it's just confusing for the target audience - kids. Definitely not a good group read aloud.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I don't mind reading out loud over and over. The language goes back and forth between telling the story of Mr Barnes on the train and bringing the sounds of the train to life. The illustrations are wonderful. Every time I read this book I want to take a train trip.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very nice story, throughout which Mr. Barnes, a rabbit, is the main focus. But watch who is in every picture with him until his arrival after a long train ride. Great illustrations.

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be a good one to prepare a child for a train journey since it talks specifically about what happens on trains in terms of sleep time, the dining car, showing your ticket, etc.
I really like how the words sound like a train in motion speeding up and slowing down. Some of the language gets rather lyrical, which I appreciated, but which was obviously completely lost on my almost-two-year-old. He also prefers to look at images of train exteriors, so all of the interior images from this book weren't as thrilling to him.
I also think the whole rabbit-who-turns-out-to-be-a-stuffed-rabbit character could be confusing to kids, as it was confusing to me throughout most of the book.
My son did spend quite a while paging through this book after we finished reading it, though, so he must have enjoyed it.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another train book I picked out for my son, but he lost interest after a couple of pages. The concept was an interesting one, but some aspects of the story weren’t immediately recognizable, and thus made the book rather confusing. The book starts off with a rabbit named Mr. Barnes, who is going on a long train trip. He is completely surrounded by animals on the train, except for a little girl, who no one else seems to be able to see. I liked pointing out all the animals and getting my son to name them. But the story just keeps going and going, with no possible end in sight. At the end of the book, the reader finds out that the little girl is the actual subject of the book and Mr. Barnes is her stuffed rabbit that she brought along with her for the extended train trip to her grandparent’s house. I enjoyed the illustrations. Recommended for ages 4-7, 2 ½ stars.

[Ina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A girl and her rabbit take a train ride to visit her grandparents. The ride is quite long and the reader learns about eating and sleeping on a train as the train chugs and whistles it's way through day and night, through cities and long tunnels. The illustrations are big and bright and bold. The text contains lots of sound words and repeated words that can easily be read in a train rhythm. My story time audience was great at providing the train whistle sounds! They also enjoyed identifying the various animal passengers, counting them and spotting small details - like a sheep knitting and a pig blowing a bubble with his bubble gum. The young girl is African-American which is also nice about this book.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Barnes the rabbit is traveling on a train with a little girl to see her grandparents. The different activities and cars involved in train travel are described. I thought the language was a bit awkward to read aloud and I didn't like the illustrations as much as some other train books I've seen. I did really like the the onomatopoeia used for the train sounds were very different than in most train picture books.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good picture book for sharing one on one with those little train lovers. It would be especially helpful in preparing them for their first train ride as it goes through all the things people do on trains and what they might ride by. And the simple reveal at the end is darling.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your kids is into train books, this is a solid one to have on hand. It's got great rhythm and pacing, and Mr. Barnes is one cool rabbit.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little boy loved the way the words of the story sounded like a train zooming down the tracks.

[Geni · Rating 2 out of 5]

small words, made up phrases. Great for making sounds but the imagery is confusing.Pre-k

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book, the kid thinks it is just ok.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of an overnight train ride from the view of a little girl's stuff rabbit. Very lyrical.

Okay illustrations.

[Colin E.c.]

um. it's cool. I like it and that's all I have to say.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to take a train ride now!