Amazon.com "Down by the station， early in the morning，" before any visitors arrive， who exactly is riding that zoo train? Hop aboard and find out! See the elephant calf waving good-bye to Mommy and Daddy. And there's a pink flamingo chick， ready to ride. Who's this sleepy black-and-white cub? Still wrapped in a blanket， the panda isn't quite awake yet. The train chugs merrily along， picking up baby animal passengers. But beware! There's danger in the pond beside the tracks. Will the seal pup and baby penguin escape from the circling crocodiles? Will Hillenbrand， illustrator of Counting Crocodiles and The House That Drac Built， has always been curious about what goes on in a zoo before opening hours. Adapting a traditional children's song， Hillenbrand depicts his charming vision， and presents a parallel journey of a school bus approaching the zoo while the train is making its rounds. Children， as diverse as the chicks and cubs and kits， bound out of the bus to seesaw with the elephant and play kickball with the seal. And the napping panda? He's found his match in a blanket-toting boy. "Puff， puff， toot， toot， off we go!" Basic song notation is included in the back for budding musicians. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Publishers Weekly Hillenbrand's (The Golden Sandal) whimsical interpretation of a familiar song offers preschoolers a ticket to ride on an enjoyable excursion through a children's zoo. As an engineer makes repeated stops along the tracks， baby animals board a rainbow-tinted train. Each adds his or her own sound to the cumulative refrain: "Puff， puff，/ Toot， toot，/ Off we go!" from "Thrump， thrump" for the elephant calf to "Flip， flop" for the seal pup， building up a symphonic chorus that begs for audience participation. Hillenbrand shapes the simple song into a full-bodied story with a visual narrative populated by characters such as a kangaroo joey that jumps rope and a monkey that rescues a woman in the alligator pond via an upturned umbrella. The artwork foreshadows the creatures to come (e.g.， a sign pointing to "Seal Island" appears on the spread before the seal pup's introduction)， and the lyrics point up the unusual names of the animal offspring. Softly shaded but brightly colored， Hillenbrand's mixed media illustrations embrace an abundance of droll detail and gently outline landscapes in which the sky gradually changes from the pink hues of early morning to a glorious blue studded with cotton-candy clouds. All aboard for fun. Ages 3-6. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. See all Editorial Reviews