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Rating: 
Summary: Awful.
Review: First the good news. The art is beautiful. This is a lovely book. If it had no words, I would recommend it enthusiastically.However... On the first and last pages, the mother is rude. In the rest of the book, you can see that her son has been paying attention, because he is rude. And then you get the politically correct dreck. "'I live in the frozen North and somebody wants my fur to make a coat out of, and soon there will be none of us left,' says the polar bear." Um, was my five year old considering buying a polar bear fur coat? No? Then how is this frightening scenario useful to him? It isn't. It's propaganda. It is the least subtle propoganda aimed at small children that I've ever read. Gawdawful.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Message: Animals Are Our Friends
Review: HEY! GET OFF OUR TRAIN is a fun book for children. The book may appear somewhat dark to adults; but that is possibly because we're torn over how to treat endangered species. From the child's point of view, this is a book about a boy who takes a magical train ride with rare and unusual animals. It's fun; it's exciting! It shows a boy who makes room on his train for all of the animals who ask for his help. Because the train looks like his toy train, there is a hint that the train ride may exist only in his imagination. But, in the end, it seems that his nighttime train ride was real. This is great fun for children!
Rating:
Summary: Fun Message: Animals Are Our Friends
Review: HEY! GET OFF OUR TRAIN is a fun book for children. The book may appear somewhat dark to adults; but that is possibly because we're torn over how to treat endangered species. From the child's point of view, this is a book about a boy who takes a magical train ride with rare and unusual animals. It's fun; it's exciting! It shows a boy who makes room on his train for all of the animals who ask for his help. Because the train looks like his toy train, there is a hint that the train ride may exist only in his imagination. But, in the end, it seems that his nighttime train ride was real. This is great fun for children!
Rating:
Summary: great fun + teaches environmentalism!
Review: I was very impressed by this book. To many childrens book talk down to children. Hey! Get Off Our Train challenges the childs imagination. Children are capable of a higher level of thought than we give them credit for.
Rating:
Summary: More Whimsical Than Dark, A Marvelous Book!
Review: This book features two seminal kid pleasers--animals and trains. I am a teacher who has read the book to dozens of children who have really enjoyed it. I would like to defend it agains the "dark" criticism. In my experience, children haven't been scared, upset or bothered by the story or the illustrations. They have been empathetic however, and perhaps that bothers some adults. The illustrations are lovely, misty, giving a feeling of riding the train out at sunset around the world. The little boy hero of the story has fun, whimsical adventures with all of the animals. My experience with kids is that they like the illustrations and smile when when they discover an interesting detail hidden in the mist. The story has a positive message--the little boy finds room on his train for all the animals, and they end up at his house. Perhaps the ending is simplistic and overly optomistic for some, but it's a little kids fantasy story! I believe the underlying message is positive and possible, that we can make room in our lives to exist in peace with all G-d's creatures. I have had kids act out this story as a skit and make animal cosutmes, and they had a ball doing that. Also, kids could make up other adventures for the little boy and his train, involving other endangered animals. One of the best books I have found for young kids that tells about endangered species in a poetic way, which helps them understand the basic concepts involved. Again, it is simplistic, but this book is for pre-schoolers and early elementary kids who are just being introduced to the topic. Although the third and fourth graders who did the skit liked it as well! It could spark discussions with kids about what's really going on in the world with endagered species, and what people can or should do about it, but that's our job as parents and teachers, to help kids cope with and understand life with all it's highs and low and contradictions.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful and engaging
Review: This book was purchased for my 3 year old daughter, however,after reading once to her it seems much to negative - apparently everyanimal is doomed to extinction. While several of the pictures are quite dark and a bit foreboding to a child. I wouldn't recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Awful.
Review: This is a great book by my favorite children's book author. Always somewhat subversive (one of the things I love about him), the combination of his sensibility and his wonderful, unique illustrations (also something I find lacking in most contemporary children's books) make his books a pleasure for adults as well as children. I think he is one of the few people who could pull off an environmental statement - so important for kids to learn about - in a completely graceful, artistic way. A tour de force, I give it to a lot of kids for their birthdays, and donated it to our public and school libraries.
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