Tom Jellett’s story tells us the story of a young family and a perennial favourite type of transport, trains.
Where we live, we can hear the trains
When we walk up the street, we can see them.
When mum goes to work, dad and the kids walk her to the station and wave her goodbye. Then at the end of the day they meet her with hugs and walk home together. As mum alights from the train there are lots of other people coming home too.
There are all sorts of trains that pass through their local station. Old ones, new ones, colourful ones, ones that carry goods, and even sometimes steam trains.
Today the family are catching the train into the city. They take snacks as the trip is long. There’s the timetable to look at, tickets to buy, and the machine to check the tickets. They watch the clock on the wall. They must wait behind the line as the train slowly rolls in, coming to a stop.
This is a simple story, yet there’s much to see and talk about. Double decker trains where you can only see people’s heads or feet depending on where you sit. All the different types of stations that they pass. There are ones with stairs, others with a lift, some are underground. One favourite station has a tunnel.
The city station is so busiest with so many people, can we find our family who have just arrived?
Jellett’s story and illustrations are beautifully charming and warm, yet fun. There’s much joy to be had in pointing out the different people, trains and stations in all their guises. The story also celebrates the love of family togetherness which toes this book together and makes this book more special.
The Train at the End of My Street is sure to inspire a trip on train or create some budding trainspotters.
Reviewed by Jane Stephens
Age Guide 2+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Jellett is a Sydney based illustrator. For over 20 years he has illustrated a number of books for children including My Dad Thinks He’s Funny by Katrina Germein, Why I Love Footy by Michael Wagner, Whale in the Bath by Kylie Westaway and the ‘Besties’ series with Sporty Kids author Felice Arena.
His work can also be seen in a number of magazines and newspapers, including editorial illustrations for The Australian and The Weekend Australian.
Tom was also recently included in the Editorial category for Illustrators 62, and exhibited at the Society of Illustrators, New York in 2020.
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