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PRESCHOOL
Hirst, Daisy

Hamish Takes the Train

40 pp. | Candlewick | September, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5362-1659-2 $16.99
(2) PS In this tale of home versus away, Hamish, a long-nosed bear, hankers to take the train to the city. Goose Noreen, a determined homebody, suggests that Hamish go on his own. Out in the big world, Hamish makes a new friend and lands himself a fulfilling job, but he misses Noreen. Together they figure out how they can have it all. The endpapers encapsulate the theme: on the opening ones we see Hamish and Noreen enjoying all the pleasures of a stay-at-home life in the country. Together they make music, tell stories, play cricket, watch birds, garden, do home repairs, and contemplate snowflakes. On the closing endpapers we see them visiting art galleries, eating at sidewalk cafes, sightseeing, shopping in street markets, camping, and building sand castles. Part of the appeal of the world that Hirst has created lies in its casual diversity. In her soft pencil and ink drawings (whose sweet energy and abundant personality recall the work of Quentin Blake), humans have pointy noses and blobby noses; they are beige and brown. Some mothers wear T-shirts, and some wear hijabs and abayas. Some construction workers are named Christov, and some are named Lisa. All this adds up to a celebration of life's abundant possibilities.
Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

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