Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Choo Choo: The Story of a Little Engine Who Ran Away. Did everyone have a miniature train set when they were growing up? Somehow, this story manages to animate that lost world of the tiny coal-fed locomotive, train station, crossings, the whistle and the bell, the track meandering through the countryside past the cows, horses, and pigs. What a naughty locomotive, so shiny and vain--she wants everyone to notice her, and notice her they will, when she runs away without her load. Traveling way too fast, she wreaks havoc everywhere she goes, until finally she ends up on a dusty unused track, run out of fuel. The engineer, fireman, and conductor have to chase her down, using a 'streamliner' to follow her. The glamorous streamliners were introduced in 1934, as a way to woo passengers back (away from their love affair with the automobile), so this is sort of a collision of the classic and the new. Lesson learned: Choo Choo doesn't like ending up all alone, and she thankfully goes back to her duties. Alas, she probably lives in a railroad museum now. There is a film about Virginia Lee Burton that I'd like to see. "Her books were known for their themes of 'importance of teamwork, environmental awareness, perseverance, and adapting to change while still recognizing the importance of the past.'" VIRGINIA LEE BURTON: A SENSE OF PLACE (2007). The drawings evoke the style of painting and drawing of the 30s, and remain much beloved to this day. She apparently drew and perfected the images first, then wrote the story. That shows - they are beautiful compositions, dynamic and evocative.