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Ty's Travels
All Aboard!
Join Ty on his imaginative adventures in Ty's Travels: All Aboard!..
Ty wishes his family would play with him, but everyone is too busy before dinnertime. Luckily, Ty knows just what to do… Time for fun.
Ty wishes his family would play with him, but everyone is too busy before dinnertime. Luckily, Ty knows just what to do… Time for fun.
32 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2020
11 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Kelly Starling Lyons
51 books112 followersKelly Starling Lyons is an award-winning author whose 17 titles for children span easy readers, picture books, chapter books, fiction, nonfiction, and series. For more than a decade, Lyons has been creating inspiring books that center Black heroes, celebrate family, friendship and heritage and show all children the storyteller they hold inside. Her acclaimed titles include Going Down Home with Daddy, Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice & Sing Inspired Generations, Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon, Tiara's Hat Parade and the Jada Jones chapter book series. Her new easy reader series with illustrator Nina Mata, Ty's Travels, debuts September 1. The first book, All Aboard, earned a starred Kirkus review.
Lyons counts Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, Best of the Year and state award lists, Junior Library Guild selections, a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor among the accolades her books have received. Two of her books, Hope's Gift and Going Down Home with Daddy, have represented the states of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively, at the National Book Festival's Parade of the States.
Lyons is a founding member of The Brown Bookshelf, a team dedicated to raising awareness of Black children's book creators, a Raleigh-Durham co-ambassador for The Authors Guild, and a teaching artist who visits schools, libraries, conferences and festivals nationwide. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and children where she facilitates a book club for boys that salutes literary treasures from Black authors and illustrators of today and the past. Learn more at www.kellystarlinglyons.com.
Lyons counts Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, Best of the Year and state award lists, Junior Library Guild selections, a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor among the accolades her books have received. Two of her books, Hope's Gift and Going Down Home with Daddy, have represented the states of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively, at the National Book Festival's Parade of the States.
Lyons is a founding member of The Brown Bookshelf, a team dedicated to raising awareness of Black children's book creators, a Raleigh-Durham co-ambassador for The Authors Guild, and a teaching artist who visits schools, libraries, conferences and festivals nationwide. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and children where she facilitates a book club for boys that salutes literary treasures from Black authors and illustrators of today and the past. Learn more at www.kellystarlinglyons.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
April 25, 2021
4/5/2021 ~ I can't wait to order all the books in this series for the readers in my elementary library. Upbeat, joyful, and imaginative.
2020 Nerdy Early Reader/Chapter Book Award: https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2...
2020 Nerdy Early Reader/Chapter Book Award: https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2...
January 27, 2021
Everyone is too busy to play with Ty. He finds an empty box and makes a train and everyone joins in as they finish up.
July 17, 2021
This is one of those books that kinda gets you as a parent if you're having a rough day. No one has time for Ty as he makes his imaginary train...his family is just too busy but in the end he doesn't give up and everyone joins the game. My kids liked it, it is full of imagination and fun.
May 31, 2020
'Ty's Travels: All Aboard!' by Kelly Starling Lyons, pictures by Nina Mata, is an adorable story of Ty and his family. Wanting nothing more than an adventure to fill his day with wonder, he does his best to enlist his parents and brother in his fun escapades. The problem is, they're all busy. Dad is making dinner, Mom is folding clothes, and his brother, Corey, is doing homework. So, Ty decides to make his own fun, and little by little, his family comes to play with him.
Ty's imagination comes to life through the colorful, descriptive illustrations. While he creates a train out of a box and takes a trip through his house, imagining himself traveling through the countryside and into the city, he comes to find that fun is where you find it, and while you can search for it yourself, it's always made that much more fun when you get the people you love to join you.
A fun 'I Can Read' book for developing readers, it is one not to be missed.
Beth Rodgers, Author of 'Welcome to Chanu-Con!,' a Children's Picture Book, and Freshman Fourteen' and 'Sweet Fifteen,' Young Adult Novels
*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*
Ty's imagination comes to life through the colorful, descriptive illustrations. While he creates a train out of a box and takes a trip through his house, imagining himself traveling through the countryside and into the city, he comes to find that fun is where you find it, and while you can search for it yourself, it's always made that much more fun when you get the people you love to join you.
A fun 'I Can Read' book for developing readers, it is one not to be missed.
Beth Rodgers, Author of 'Welcome to Chanu-Con!,' a Children's Picture Book, and Freshman Fourteen' and 'Sweet Fifteen,' Young Adult Novels
*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*
September 28, 2020
Ty loves adventures and most of all he wishes his family would play with him. But his father is busy making dinner, his mother is folding the laundry, and his big brother is doing his homework. Ty spots an empty box and knows just what to do with it. Soon he has built a train engine and begins a journey down the tracks. At the first stop, someone is waiting! It’s Daddy, who climbs aboard. At the next stop, it’s Momma who comes aboard in time to see the city go by. The next stop has his big brother join in. The last stop comes eventually and they are back home just in time for dinner.
There is real challenge in writing a good easy reader and Lyons meets that challenge head on here. With her story of a supportive and playful family, she has a story that can be told simply. It has plenty of action and motion to keep the story moving forward in a way that is paced perfectly for new readers.
The illustrations by Mata are friendly and use the white space on the page nicely. They support the text on the page, offering new readers just the right amount of support visually. She also shows the imaginary journey clearly using crayon and simpler graphics that are done in a childlike style.
This series is a great pick for new readers. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
There is real challenge in writing a good easy reader and Lyons meets that challenge head on here. With her story of a supportive and playful family, she has a story that can be told simply. It has plenty of action and motion to keep the story moving forward in a way that is paced perfectly for new readers.
The illustrations by Mata are friendly and use the white space on the page nicely. They support the text on the page, offering new readers just the right amount of support visually. She also shows the imaginary journey clearly using crayon and simpler graphics that are done in a childlike style.
This series is a great pick for new readers. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
January 25, 2021
Children's I Can Read. As much progress has been made in having more representative books for children, there seems to be a focus on animals or animated objects in the I Can Read area. So I was excited to see this new series featuring a Black boy and his family. Ty just wants to use his imagination. But everyone else in his house is busy. When he spots an empty cardboard box, he turns it into a train. Little by little his other family members join him and they play until the last stop: home!
The story is a simple slice-of-life story with a plot that is easy for young readers to relate to. The illustrations cleverly show Ty and his family drawn realistically while the scenes they "drive by" on the train are colored in crayon, as Ty imagines them. A great addition to the I Can Read level books.
The story is a simple slice-of-life story with a plot that is easy for young readers to relate to. The illustrations cleverly show Ty and his family drawn realistically while the scenes they "drive by" on the train are colored in crayon, as Ty imagines them. A great addition to the I Can Read level books.
January 18, 2024
Ty wants to play, but everyone in his family is too busy. With a box and a marker, he begins the creative process and sets off on an imaginary journey. This book is refreshing –there are very few stories where parents or siblings are not always available to play when requested. It shows children that they are still loved when they cannot play together, but that this is temporary, and quality time together is on the horizon. This is an important concept for young children to learn. Also shown, is the importance of innovation – Ty does not pick up a device when he is alone or bored but chooses to put his energy into creating something new. While this book is designed as an early reader, the storyline is interesting and the words non-repetitive which is a welcome change for this type of book.
January 27, 2021
Ty wants to play, but just before dinner everyone is busy. Dad's cooking, Mom's folding laundry, and big brother is doing his homework. So Ty sets off on a train adventure across his imaginative countryside on his own. But I love that his family joins him along the way. Simple and fantastic, and a win for representation in the Easy Reader collection.
Bonus: Ty's Travels: Zip, Zoom! just won a much deserved Geisel Honor. It's not easy making an engaging story into something accessible for a just beginning reader, but this series does it.
Bonus: Ty's Travels: Zip, Zoom! just won a much deserved Geisel Honor. It's not easy making an engaging story into something accessible for a just beginning reader, but this series does it.
October 1, 2020
Ty wants to play with someone but they're all busy doing other things. Then he finds a box to turn into a train and slowly his family joins him at various stops. A very cute book about an adorable family that goes on an (imaginary) train ride.
I like how the imaginative bits have a child-like illustration style (with the exception of the people, who look consistent throughout). This helps to distinguish what is imagination and what is real.
Side note: I like that both parents are helping out with chores (Dad is cooking and Mom is folding laundry), hurrah for teamwork!
I like how the imaginative bits have a child-like illustration style (with the exception of the people, who look consistent throughout). This helps to distinguish what is imagination and what is real.
Side note: I like that both parents are helping out with chores (Dad is cooking and Mom is folding laundry), hurrah for teamwork!
September 30, 2020
I am loving the Ty's Travels easy reader series! So cute. Ty is fun, animated, and ready for adventure, but everyone else is busy. With the help of an empty box, and his imagination, Ty set off to find adventure for himself. The illustrations are adorable, and do a wonderful job of depicting Ty's vivid imagination. (This would be a fun book to picture walk as well!) Cute, cute, cute. I can't wait to read more books in this series.
December 7, 2020
This is apparently the first I Can Read! book/series centering a black family.
Ty wants to play but everyone in his family is busy. Ty gets resourceful with a big cardboard box to find his own fun, and eventually his mom, dad, and brother join in the play. I appreciate how Ty is using what he finds, resourcefully, to entertain himself, and how the family supports his imagination.
Should be great for lap-reading, with its word repetition and sweet illustrations.
Ty wants to play but everyone in his family is busy. Ty gets resourceful with a big cardboard box to find his own fun, and eventually his mom, dad, and brother join in the play. I appreciate how Ty is using what he finds, resourcefully, to entertain himself, and how the family supports his imagination.
Should be great for lap-reading, with its word repetition and sweet illustrations.
February 26, 2022
Ty can't find anyone at home who will play with him. Everyone is busy! But then he finds an empty box. A few strokes with a crayon and Ty has a train! It's so much fun, everyone else wants to play too.
I love these Ty books - he has the best imagination. I love how the illustrations are crayon drawing when he's imagining and more real pictures at his house. Very fun to read, either with a child, to a child or independently.
Cross posted to http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com
I love these Ty books - he has the best imagination. I love how the illustrations are crayon drawing when he's imagining and more real pictures at his house. Very fun to read, either with a child, to a child or independently.
Cross posted to http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com
February 6, 2021
Ty loves adventures, but on an evening when he wants to play, his family is all busy with chores...so Ty climbs into a cardboard box and turns it into a train. Along the way, he picks up members of his family one at a time, until they arrive back home.
A cute beginning to read book about imagination.
A cute beginning to read book about imagination.
August 11, 2022
Ty's father, mother, and big brother are all busy so he develops his own game with a box imagining it is a train.
I love that Ty's family each joins him as they finish up what they need to do. It is so fun to see a kid able to entertain himself and not whine about it, and then a family able to have fun together.
I love that Ty's family each joins him as they finish up what they need to do. It is so fun to see a kid able to entertain himself and not whine about it, and then a family able to have fun together.
August 8, 2023
Hi love how this books shows family members doing responsible things around the home - and how they also take time to play with each other. This book also illustrates the concepts that (1) sometimes much as they love us parents have things that they need to do first before play and that (2) we don't need others to have fun.
April 14, 2024
This story contains a cheery plot, but it also reveals the poignant reason why little Ty may do so much imagining these days.
Does Ty's family have time to play with him? Or are they far too busy?
At least, eventually, Daddy gets on board. That's when the story really begins to warm my heart.
FIVE STARS
Does Ty's family have time to play with him? Or are they far too busy?
At least, eventually, Daddy gets on board. That's when the story really begins to warm my heart.
FIVE STARS
January 1, 2021
Ty is a boy with an imagination! In this first book of a new series, Ty can't find anyone to play with him so he turns a box into a train. Soon, the family joins in the fun. Love the family relationship.
February 8, 2021
A very fun early reader book (this one is considered in the "shared reading" category). Lots of repetitions without seeming boring. I love the happy family and the depiction of using your imagination.
February 20, 2021
Such a good read aloud book! We follow a little boy named Ty who has nobody to play with. He gets creative and turns a cardboard box into his very own train car. Then Ty goes on a sight seeing adventure that the whole family joins in on.
August 14, 2023
Ty wants someone to play with him, but his dad is busy making dinner and his mom is busy folding clothes. His older brother is busy doing homework, so Ty gets creative and finds something to do with his dog. Soon the rest of his family joins in!
September 13, 2020
Great I Can Read book about a cute Black boy named Ty. Readers will relate to him as he comes up with a creative, fun solution to his next imaginative adventure.
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September 21, 2020This is a fun new series about an imaginative little boy and his family. There is a huge need for easy readers by BIPOC authors and this definitely helps to fill the void!
September 29, 2020
Very cute. I love the illustrations, especially when Ty is imagining his adventure.
November 6, 2020
New early reader series!
November 11, 2020
Cute book!
January 7, 2021
Not many very early readers feature POC, so I need to remember this author (who has at least one sequel to this one)
January 22, 2021
Super cute! Ty can't find anyone to play with him. No problem, he uses his imagination to go on an awesome adventure. A fun storyline and cute illustrations. 🧒🏾🚂
February 25, 2021
My four year old smiled the whole time I read this to her. I am so glad this is a series.
March 12, 2021
4.5 stars. Super cute early reader about family and making your own fun when you can.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews