Space Train, The

by Maudie Powell-Tuck, Karl James Mountford (Illustrator)

In a space station many light years from Earth, Jakob lives with Grandma, a robot chicken named Derek, and ToolBot, a robot. One day, Jakob finds an enormous rusty, broken rocket in a hangar. “That’s not a rusty rocket!” Grandma says excitedly. “It’s the SPACE TRAIN!” She tells him that the Space Train used to travel across the universe “faster than the fastest spaceship.” Jakob desperately wants to fix the train. Can they do it?

Genres: Picture Books, Space, Childrens, Transport, Science, Family

32 pages, hardcover

Published October 1, 2019

Reviews

[Zach Freeman]

Me: Trains, rockets, space, robots, a story about making friends... this book has everything!

4yo: ...no sharks.

So it almost has everything.

[Amanda]

3 1/2 stars (Bumping this up for the sheer beauty of the illustrations; they are so brilliant!)

Read this with Mister, and while I was totally grooving to the retro, detailed illustrations and the complex storyline, he was a bit lost. Thank goodness for the Robo-Chicken! There was so much going on in the layouts and the storyline that it was a bit overwhelming for Mister. I wonder if he could have just explored the layouts of the pages and taken a picture walk and poured over everything that maybe this would have been a better read?

However we were doing this before bed and were on a bit of a time crunch, I wanted to linger on the pages, yet, we had already read one book and this was the second book. Mister was starting to yawn. We may come back to this again. For the illustrations alone, reading this again would be a treat.

[Engel Dreizehn]

Although it would have been to actually see the actual trip...it was still fun, creative and inspiring to think just like the boy how an intergalactic train trip would have been like.

[Becky B]

Jakob and his Granny live in outer space with a chicken, a lazy robot, and a secret stowaway. When Jakob stumbles across an old, broken down object, his Gran informs him it is a space train. She tells him all the wonderful places space trains went in her day, and they decide to fix it up. But fixing it up is hard work and when they face setbacks it is tempting to quit. Will they ever get the space train working, and will it be worth it?

I love this scifi story about perseverance and a boy and his grandma working together on a special project. The illustrations are very fun and vibrantly colorful, as are the flaps you can lift and see what's going on around the space station. The lazy robot and the helpful chicken and the hiding alien provide some light humor in the background. All around, a delightful scifi adventure for kids who dream of traveling to amazing new places.

[Jared White]

This story is quite fun, I love the colors of the illustrations, and it's about living in space (always cool), but I think the thing that some kids will especially delight in is that Derek (the robot chicken) is essentially a 3D printer and how it "prints" the thing out is to lay them as a chicken would lay an egg (or poop them out, which was my first thought, though the laying thing I guess makes more sense).

It's a bit wordy and on some page-spreads there's a lot going on, so I don't think I would use this in a storytime.

[Natalie]

First line: “Jakob lived light years from Earth, in a space station on the edge of a galaxy.”

The characters are a motley crew of Jakob, his Granny, a robot chicken, a toolbot and some aliens to boot. I loved the vibrant colors of the pictures that drew me in to take a closer look at the details and lift all the flaps throughout Jakob and his Granny’s adventure. They have to do a lot of work to fix a great machine. Will it work?

Problem solving comes into play.

[StephanieNicole]

Although Jakob lives on a space station with his grandma, a robot chicken, and a toolbot, he is lonely without any friends his own age. When he discovers a derelict space train in one of the hangars, the group works together to get it back up and running to go on adventures and make new friends. The artwork is stunning, and I think kids would enjoy the details on each page. Derek the robot chicken had me laughing out loud.

[Villain E]

A boy and his grandmother fix up an old space train together. It doesn't work right the first time but they stick to it.

I love the idea of a sci-fi version of a kid bonding with a parent while fixing up an old junker. But I don't feel like the actual bonding was depicted well. (Or maybe I'm missing the point completely.)

[Sarah]

Jakob discovers an old machine on his space station and his grandmother informs him that it is the space train that she remembers from her youth. They decide to fix it up together.

Great messages on working hard and on not giving up just because you fail.

I also liked that this is also a search and find book too.

[Lyndy]

This combines some of my son's favorite things: space and trains. But I thought the story was weak. It felt like it was a sequel to something, like it was too complicated but also didn't provide enough info.

[angelofmine1974]

Wonderful book about a boy and his grandma finding an old space train and fixing it up to go on adventures. I loved the lazy toolbot. Graphics were great and even the chicken bot was interesting as well.

[Miss Sarah]

An elementary and up picture book about a boy and his grandma rebuilding a space train so they can go adventuring.

[Sarah Newman]

So fun and great illustrations :)
Grumpy ToolBot a favourite with the 6yo.

[Natalie]

My kids want to read this book every night and get the biggest kick out of Toolbot! I hope there's a sequel.

[Barbara]

When Jakob stumbles upon a space train while exploring the space station where he lives with his grandmother, he decides to repair it. with the help of his grandmother, Derek the robot chicken, and ToolBot, they figure out what to do. The work goes smoothly, but they don't succeed right away. Eventually, they blast off and travel to three galaxies and 39 other planets where Jakob gets his wishes met and makes many new friends. The colorful illustrations, including diagrams on the end papers and an image of a very cool star whale, will surely catch the eyes of young readers. The idea of traveling through space in a train is pretty cool too. The images fill each page, and there isn't a lot of white space to be found on the pages.

[Ali]

This interactive lift the flap book has great illustrations and some good imagination. I liked the book as physical object.