“When the rain fingers drum out a dance on the pane, / When the windows are foggy enough for my name, / A pitter-pat-pat, a pitter-pat-pat, / A pittery-pittery-pittery-pat.” A brown-skinned boy imagines that the rain on his window is a train arriving in his neighborhood. All the children emerge from their homes and climb on board for a journey that surely owes at least some of its inspiration to Chris Van Allsburg’s Polar Express . Author Elena deRoo makes this a story all her own with a sound- and rhythm-rich narrative that masterfully uses onomatopoeia. Brian Lovelock capitalizes on a dark, colorful nighttime palette as the fanciful, soothing story plays out in lovely illustrations that feature a diverse group of children. “Storm past the stations, no one alights. / Safe in my sleeper, I steam through the night. / Ssshhhhhhhhh.” (Ages 2–5)