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Sunday, June 18, 2017

The Little Train that Saved the Day



By Charlotte Steiner
Copyright 1947


Stories about little trains helping bigger trains are not uncommon in the picture book world.  What small child doesn’t want to hear a story about a smaller, weaker character overcoming the odds to triumph over an older, seemingly stronger character?  A child’s life is constantly steered by adults, so the idea that he could somehow save the day all by himself is understandably appealing.  

In The Little Train that saved the Day, a hard-working little freight train happily goes about his business each day, pulling things wherever they need to go. He waits patiently for a big, shiny excursion train filled with passengers to pass by. As the little train goes about his work, he passes a group of happy people picnicking near a lake. The children wave, but the little freight train does not stop, for he does not carry passengers. At the end of the day, as the little train makes his way back home, he again passes the lake. This time, the picnickers line the tracks waving down the little train. 

“A small boy shouted, ‘Stop! Please take us back to the city. The excursion train has broken down.’”

The passengers all climb aboard and that little freight train carries them all back to the city. He has saved the day!

It just goes to show you that as small as you are, you never know when you will be called upon to do that big job.  



Sunday, June 4, 2017

The Magic Finger

By Roald Dahl
Illustrated by William Pene Du Bois
copyright 1966


Although this book has been around for over 50 years, I just read it for the first time this week. I’ve realized there are a number of Roald Dahl books I haven’t read, and after enjoying this one so much, I am inspired to check out the rest.

This is a little book, but it comes with a big (and obvious) moral lesson.

Next door to the Gregg family lives a girl with a special power. When she gets really, really, mad, she has the power to cause havoc on whoever is vexing her. In this case, the Gregg family loves to hunt, and carelessly shoots a duck family out of the sky. The girl does not like hunting, and her anger at the family causes her magic finger to temporarily turn the Gregg family into ducks.  Meanwhile, the remaining grieving members of the duck family transform into humans. After a night spent in a nest along with fear at being shot by the duck-human family that has taken up residence in their house, the Greggs realized the error of their ways. They have been transformed! Having spent a day as ducks, they now go out of their way to show kindness to the animals and decide to never hunt again!
The girl’s finger truly is magical, for it has shown an entire family the consequences of their actions and given them the gift of empathy for the powerless.

How powerful it is to walk in another’s shoes!