I Dream of Trains (Golden Kite Awards)

This breathtakingly illustrated picture book taught me a new reading strategy; read the "About this book" on the last page FIRST. I had no idea what this book was about, NO IDEA. But I loved its poetic imagery anyway. Now that I know (having read the last page), I liked it even more the second time.

This is about the Great Migration & John Luther "Casey" Jones's possible impact on it.

I'd recommend this to:
African American children and/or students studying the Great Migration period of US history or sharecropping.

I Dream of Trains by Angela Johnson is abstract in nature and requires an in-depth analysis of the plot. The story is set in the 1900s in the south, somewhere between Mississippi and Tennessee. Written in a child's voice, the story tells of a (formally enslaved) boy's hope and desire to travel the country. He admires train engineer Casey Jones and often times find himself daydreaming of life on a train. Until one day his Hope's are crushed after Casey Jones dies in a train wreck. But his father reinsures him that there are many other trains and heroes in the world.

This is a very book that tells the story of an African American boy who works in the cotton fields and dreams of riding on a train and exploring the world. One of his fellow cotton workers get killed by a train and this really effects the boy. He still wants to see the good in life and to ride away on the train. He says that one day he will get out of the cotton files and leave his family behind. He will start his own life and it will be filled with freedom. This book teaches about the time period of when blacks were slaves and it shows the emotions that they felt. It is a good story for kids to read because it also has some historical context. It talks about cotton-workers in the fields and all that their duties were. It is easy to show more understand the story plot of this book. This is an example of a modern fantasy book. show less

This book describes the mindset of a slave boy that loves trains. He becomes obsessed about Casey, a famous engineer, that his grandfather describes how a crash occurred that ended his life. His father reminds him that there are many other trains out in the world and that one day he will be able to see them all. I took this story as a story of hope and encouragement since his grandfather believed that they would be freed one day.

In this historical fiction book, the narrator tells us a story from his point of view. At first, it seems like he was waiting for his older friend Casey, who was a train conductor, to come and pick him up to ride the train. It seemed like that was his dream. But as you continue reading, you realize that was a memory. He is actually thinking back to when Casey was alive. The narrator tells a story of how Casey was driving his train, and he was going to fast on a rainy day with another train too close. He pulled on the breaks and blew the whistle, but it was too late and the train crashed. The narrator was thinking about all of these different events, which caused him to miss Casey. He wants to be a train conductor too. But for now, he show more continues to pick cotton in the fields until he is old enough to become one. show less

This is a wonderful book that discusses the lives of the people at this time. It is a wonderful story that is set back in the late 1800 and how a father tells his son of the wonders of this man, "Casey" Jones. The style in which this story is written is almost poetic and captivates the reader with a sense of rhythm when reading this story.

Summary: A young African American boy who works on a cotton plantation dreams of driving away for a new life on the train that goes by their house. This boy looks up Casey, the engineer of the train as his hero. Casey is the one that can drive the little boy away from the life he lives to a new life that he dreams of having. This story shows the realism of how when many black people worked in sharecropping fields they longed for a new life and looked up to those that could take them away to that new life, such as Casey the train driver.
Critique: This realistic fiction shows what a true black boy may have been thinking and feeling during this area. It gives a realistic picture of what it might have been like for children during those show more times. The setting in this book also portrays the realism of life for African Americans during those days. The setting takes place on a cotton field where the young boy dreams of Casey and his train. This gives a deeper understanding to what pain and hurting they must have gone through.
Teacher Use: A teacher could use this book while teaching about life after slavery and what it might have been like for African Americans during this time. The class could talk about the symbol of the train and what they think it means in the book and how it relates to history. The class could then relate the book to writing by writing their own stories using symbolism and dreams of their own.
Media: Oil Paints show less