Le Train jaune

by Fred Bernard, François Roca (Illustrator)

Un petit garçon monte dans la vieille locomotive de son grand-père. C’est l’occasion d’un voyage dans le temps et dans l’espace au cours duquel l’enfant se laisse emporter avant de se réveiller, la clé de la locomotive serrée dans sa main…

Genres: Picture Books

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jennifer B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice nostalgic story about the relentless march of time and "progress". Nicely illustrated as well.

[Mad Medico · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite childhood books that still 100% holds up. There are several things I admire about it: the illustrations have a great art nouveau style, with dark pastels and making great use of framing, size and perspective (I spent hours meticulously copying them in my own drawings); the story itself is, like all great children’s books, simple but backed with a strong sense of morality and justice (TYY’s being a warning regarding the relentless pace of industry and modernisation); and the key point of interest for me as an adult is the darkness - the grandfather character is mysterious and not necessarily comforting (his knowledge only ever hinted/glanced at and his de-ageing always creeped me out a bit) and the world itself is shown to be potentially hostile (the snake people don’t accept outsiders and the perspectives used in the city, jungle and mountainous pictures emphasise the train’s smallness and vulnerability). While most children’s books aim for comfort and simple pleasure, The Yellow Train left such a strong impression precisely because it was ambiguous, and left me feeling small and lacking knowledge, and even scared - the feeling I have been chasing in fiction ever since. Thank you, Yellow Train!

[Mr. Danny Arévalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! Great illustrations! This brought back some childhood memories for me. I will be adding this to my list of books to record on my new YouTube channel coming this summer! (link in bio)

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever way for a grandfather to tell/show his child about how the world changed. His train, which was his pride and joy, helped build huge cities and factories, but at the same time, those same cities destroyed the countryside, jungles and forests. It's the price of technology, but not all technology is progress.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grandfather took my hand, and we walked down to the far end of the long platform. There, behind one of the Big Blue Trains, was a smaller Yellow Train.

Grandpa stood near it, beaming with pride. "This is my train."

"Your train?"

"That's right. A long, long time ago, before you were born, I was the conductor on this Yellow Train."

"It's a beauty," I said, touching the yellow paint.

"When I was a young man," my grandfather continued, "I drove this train to the most wonderful places. I haven't driven it in years. But today, Theo, we're going to take it out for a spin."

And then the adventure began.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story about a boy who goes on a journey with his grandad on a yellow train that takes him accross different lands, witnessing different things. Eventually mentions how things used to be in the past (more rural).
Nice story. Lovely pictures. Not so sure about him being asked to keep a ‘secret’ – is it good to encourage that if read in class enviroment?
It is sweet and innocent though…
And I liked the way it mentioned environmental awareness. Could be used for pollution/enviromental awareness lesson, or to learn changes throughout time.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was an interesting. Obviously teaching a message, but the reader still has to work to figure out what the message (or messages) is. I liked the artwork. The colors were pleasing to the eye and went well together. Exactly what I would want to see in a story and setting like this. I liked the symbolism in the book, too. Not quite sure how younger children would react to it, though. One page that Brandy will especially love!