Down by the Station
This version of the classic children’s song expands the traditional rhyme by featuring a variety of modes of transportation, not just the “little puffer-bellies.” Beginning with the traditional “down by the station, early in the morning,” readers are introduced to different vehicles on each two-page spread. School buses, tractor trailers, excavators, jumbo jets, sailboats, race cars, fire engines, and rocket boosters are all highlighted with an original four-stanza rhyme. Each rhyme works well with the original cadence that many parents, teachers, librarians, and youngsters are familiar with. For example, “Down by the water / Early in the morning / See the bobbing sailboats all in a row / See the salty skipper pulling up the mainsail. / Flap flap splash splash! Off we go!” Remkiewicz’s lively watercolor illustrations add energy to the rhymes, and storytimes, preschools, and kindergarten classrooms will be requesting this title, as will budding transportation enthusiasts. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Shauna Yusko