Goodnight Train June Sobel Reviews Summary

Book Quality and Durability

Pros:

• "Nice, sturdy book that has survived two years of toddler torture."
• "The board book style is wonderful so he doesn't rip the pages as well."
• "Heavy duty and durable quality."
• "Also, the book itself is very sturdy and has endured a lot of violent baby love!"
• "We got the board book format and it's sturdy and will last a long time."
• "Love the board books because now that he's a toddler he can be destructive. Board books can withstand the abuse!"
• "They are made sturdy and vibrant colors."

Cons:

• "This one is a hard cover with a paper slip cover which kiddos can rip as well as the pages."
• "I bought a new one and it arrived so terribly damaged--it was awful."
• "The book did have a few dents in the top of the front cover."
• "Ordered this and two other books all arrived in a bubble plastic enveloped warped in the very same places."
• "Our regular version has tape on nearly every page, where I had to fix small rips."
• "However, I am not thrilled that the new book appears to have worn edges."
• "The book was 1/3 the thickness of our original copy."

Illustrations

Pros:

• "The pictures tell so many different stories so reading it never gets old."
• "Beautiful and funny illustrations about actual bedtime routine."
• "The pictures have a lot of hidden things for kiddos to try and find."
• "The illustrations are amazing and fun filled."
• "The illustrations are beautiful and incredibly detailed."
• "The illustrations are very detailed and fun to look at (even for me!), and the rhyming and rhythm of the words is very satisfying and entertaining."
• "The artwork is beautiful and it flows well and is easy to read."

Cons:

• "The illustrations can be a bit busy, especially if you're trying to get someone wound down."
• "The art is lovely and clever, but it's too intricate, busy, and abstract for her."
• "I find the pictures a bit odd."
• "The pictures just are a little 'the nightmare before Christmas' to me."
• "The pictures are kind of weird, too, and the pictures confuse my son."
• "The illustrations are way too busy and sophisticated for my infant."
• "Rather than enhance and bring clarity to the story, the illustrations serve to further confuse the reader and leave a disconnect between the text and pictures."

Story and Writing Style

Pros:

• "This book is lyrical; Children love the sounds of the words."
• "It is very well written and has a nice rhythm to it 👍"
• "The sounds you have to make on each page really keep the child engaged."
• "The writing is fantastic with lots of train sounds 'scrub a dub scrub a dub toot toot' etc."
• "The story rhymes and has a great rhythm, not too long or too short."
• "The story is also written with such rhythm that the book just flows almost like a song."
• "The story flows really well and my son loves the train noises."

Cons:

• "Some of the language is weak such as the first verb of the book which is 'gets' and the second line which is passive with 'being'."
• "Cute pics but bad story. Sometimes it rhymes and sometimes it doesn’t and other times there’s no words on the page just an illustration."
• "However, I was disappointed with the story - it's pretty basic."
• "The rhyme and rhythm are often interrupted, the overall storyline isn't solid, sending mixed messages."
• "It has very abstract complicated illustrations and difficult to understand."
• "The train, which is clearly a passenger train filled with children, is called a 'freight train' in the text."
• "Sadly, this one is allegorical and our 3 year old is completely confused by allegory."