"Once upon a time there was a train that dreamed of being a boat."
It was the train that took immigrants seeking a better life in the New World across the endless flat prairies to San Francisco. And it was the train that took Conor, a small homesick boy from Ireland, on the voyage he would remember for the rest of his life. While on that train, Conor dreams of being back in Connemara, Ireland, with his grandfather when suddenly, to his amazement, the waving prairie grass becomes the sea and the train on which he is traveling, like a boat, sails across it right back to his home. How Conor comes to realize that the home he's left behind will always be with him provides a reassuring and deeply satisfying resolution to this poignant tale. The dreamlike paintings by Caldecott Honor artist Eric Rohmann combine with the lyrical text of Irish playwright Antoine Ó Flatharta to make this one of the most memorable books of this--or any--season.
WINNER
| 2000 Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award
"a gorgeous picture book...The illustrations...are outstanding." -Miami Herald
"a lyrical, beautifully written fantasy-adventure..." -Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"The book's handsome design, as well as Rohmann's deft portraits of Conor and his fellow immigrants, adds to the book's many deeply felt pleasures." -Publishers Weekly
"O' Flatharta's fanciful tale flows across the pages...a unique and powerful book." -School Library Journal
"The story wonderfully addresses issues of loss, sorrow and adventure." -USA Today
"Once upon a time there was a train that dreamed of being a boat."
It was the train that took immigrants seeking a better life in the New World across the endless flat prairies to San Francisco. And it was the train that took Conor, a small homesick boy from Ireland, on the voyage he would remember for the rest of his life. While on that train, Conor dreams of being back in Connemara, Ireland, with his grandfather when suddenly, to his amazement, the waving prairie grass becomes the sea and the train on which he is traveling, like a boat, sails across it right back to his home. How Conor comes to realize that the home he's left behind will always be with him provides a reassuring and deeply satisfying resolution to this poignant tale. The dreamlike paintings by Caldecott Honor artist Eric Rohmann combine with the lyrical text of Irish playwright Antoine Ó Flatharta to make this one of the most memorable books of this--or any--season.
Awards
WINNER
| 2000 Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award
Praise
"a gorgeous picture book...The illustrations...are outstanding." -Miami Herald
"a lyrical, beautifully written fantasy-adventure..." -Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"The book's handsome design, as well as Rohmann's deft portraits of Conor and his fellow immigrants, adds to the book's many deeply felt pleasures." -Publishers Weekly
"O' Flatharta's fanciful tale flows across the pages...a unique and powerful book." -School Library Journal
"The story wonderfully addresses issues of loss, sorrow and adventure." -USA Today
