Yes, yes, Murder on the Orient Express is much more known and beloved. But although the train is famous, it spends most of the book stuck in a snowdrift, which I found very disappointing. This charming outing for Miss Marple starts when her friend sees a murder from one train while travelling in another. There’s very little blood or violence in this book, but all the excellent plotting you’d expect from Christie is here, twisting a railway murder into a classic country house mystery, with two boys on their school holiday helping hunt for clues. A good introduction to the queen of crime for a young reader.
A Christmas classic for every train-loving child, The Polar Express is a wonderfully gentle adventure to the North Pole that millions of readers return to again and again. Why? There’s an indescribable magic to trains that this book makes real. Its beautiful illustrations capture the pure joy of watching a steam train rumbling into the distance. Something chuffer nutters young and old can all appreciate.
A secret world beneath London’s streets, where the names of tube stations take on mythic significance – the Angel of Islington, the Earl of Earls Court, the treacherous Knight’s Bridge – the world of Neverwhere drips with imagination. After helping a wounded girl called Door, ordinary Richard Mayhew finds himself stranded in London Below, and forced to go on a quest deep into the city’s underbelly to get his life back. The everyday world of the rattling Underground trains becomes something truly magical here. I was obsessed with it as a young reader.
You can’t talk about great books with trains in them without mentioning this timeless classic. I loved E Nesbit’s adventures when I was little, and this one was no exception. Many of her books feature magical worlds, but here the railway provides the magic – becoming a portal for adventure for the three siblings whose family has fallen on hard times. It’s a beautifully built tale with lots of smaller stories shooting off like branch lines from the main plot. But they’re all woven together by the theme of simple kindness – and the importance of helping people less fortunate than ourselves.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments