BOOK REVIEW: Al The Green Rain Train

If you're going to purchase Al the Green Rain Train, by Alfred Guajardo, don't take the back cover as a key to what you'll be getting in terms of writing style. You'll find the story much more rewarding.

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Don't get me wrong. A synopsis of a book is good, that is, if it works. I almost didn't venture into the land of Al in the beginning, simply because I found the synopsis needed a bit of tweaking, but I did like the subject matter of the book and so the rest, shall we say, is history.

Al the Green Train does three good things in my opinion:

1) It's written in easy to understand children's language
2) It gives children an opportunity to learn new words like environment, appreciation and conservation.
3) It offers colorful illustrations opposite a fun, learning story

What I found most interesting about Al was his fascination for all things of the earth and his ability to be a part of that through the rain he produced through his "rain" stack.

Expect a glossary at the end of the book explaining terms such as funnel cloud, tornado, thunder and lightning. Expect rhymes and a bit of poetic form.

I recommend Al the Green Rain Train, for its simplicity of learning within the pages; not for what it's got riding on the back cover.