DOWN BY THE STATION

DOWN BY THE STATION

By Will Hillenbrand

It’s funny how when I see a sing-aloud book for the first time, I instinctively sing the title inside my head rather than read it. And, I rarely stop with the title—I usually “head sing” my way through the rest of the song as I open to the first page. When I opened Down by the Station for the first time, I knew from the first illustration that this would be a fun “train ride!”

What’s unique about this train is that it travels only over the grounds of the zoo. Every morning before the zoo opens, the train conductor makes many stops along the way to pick up baby zoo animals to take them to the petting zoo.

The first on the train is the lady zookeeper and her pet monkey and bird. After that, the “zoo babies” are picked up one by one, and include a baby elephant, flamingo, panda, tiger, seal, and kangaroo. Each time a new baby is introduced in a new verse of the song, the author uses the appropriate name for the animal baby such as calf, cub, joey, etc., which presents a great opportunity for new vocabulary at an early age.

As the train is about to pass the alligator pond, a sign with the word “Danger” alerts the reader and listener that trouble lies ahead. And, that trouble is played out in a wonderfully illustrated and funny segment that depicts problem solving at its best (in the realm of make-believe, of course).

This sing-along ends on a very happy “note” as children who are on a field trip to the zoo are seen playing with all the zoo babies, including the lady zookeeper and teacher who are playing jump-rope with some children and the baby kangaroo.

Great fun!