Fiction - Transportation & Travel, Fiction - Animals - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous

Hibernation Station

Name: Hibernation Station
Author: Michelle Meadows
ISBN: 9781416937883

by Michelle Meadows

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Overview

Everybody at the station! It’s time for winter hibernation! The sweet rhyming text of this book will calm even the most rambunctious kids and have them dreaming about what it’s like to hibernate. Young readers will be soothed and delighted as this story introduces them to different types of hibernating animals. The creatures on the train are preparing to snuggle into sleep, although with a passenger list that includes chipmunks, bears, snakes, hedgehogs, groundhogs, frogs, turtles, mice, bats, and more, there’s a lot of noise! Will the hibernating critters ever get to sleep? Take a trip to Hibernation Station to find out!

About the Author, Michelle Meadows

Michelle Meadows is the author of Itsy Bitsy Baby Mouse, Traffic Pups, Pilot Pups, Piggies in the Kitchen, Piggies in Pajamas, Hibernation Station, and The Way the Storm Stops. She lives in Silver Springs, Maryland.

Kurt Cyrus has illustrated numerous picture books, including Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly by Anne Bustard; Mammoths on the Move by Lisa Wheeler; and his own Turtle Rex and Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water. He lives in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

In Meadows’s (Pilot Pups) imaginative spin on hibernation, a menagerie prepares for winter as golden leaves give way to snowfall. A bear wearing a conductor’s cap and train-themed pajamas hands out pillows to animals as they climb aboard a train fashioned from hollowed logs. “Groundhogs, turtles, snakes, and frogs./ Slipping into holes and logs./ Fluff the pillows, snuggle in./ But then... commotion in a den!/ ‘I cannot sleep!’ a black bear roars./ ‘My roommate rolls around and snores!’ ” Chipmunks spill a drink and a frog is afraid to be alone--but all finally fall asleep as the ursine crew soon gets everyone in order. Creatively balancing the real and the fanciful, Cyrus’s (Pest Fest) digitally colored art is completely enchanting. Reminiscent of some of Jan Brett’s creations, the animals are rendered at close range and in meticulous detail; their festive pajamas add a whimsical flourish (snakes and slugs in pjs--who can resist?). The overall coziness should get readers in the mood for some overnight hibernation of their own. Ages 3-7. (Aug.)

School Library Journal

Gr 2—The hibernation train, fashioned of hollow logs, is filled with all sorts of animals, including bears, snakes, chipmunks, frogs, skunks, hedgehogs, and mice. On its way to the station, it hits a few snags—crowded conditions, leakage from a stream, and a lack of snacks and pillows. As the snow falls heavier and heavier, the bears in charge manage to get everyone squared away just as the train enters hibernation station. The track is made of tree branches, and the season is clearly heading from fall into winter. The enjoyable rhyming text provides the perfect platform for the wonderful illustrations that accompany it. Cyrus blends realistic depictions of the animals with just the right anthropomorphic touches—they are all clad in pajamas. The best example is the snails complete with slime trails wearing pj's, while the snakes slithering in their nightwear is quite amusing. An author's note on hibernation is included. Good for storytime or one-on-one reading.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

Kirkus Reviews

The autumn leaves are swirling all around, so it must be time to gather at Hibernation Station to board the train to sleep. An adorable crew of pajama-clad forest animals make their way to the train, a collection of log cars with variously sized holes and crevices. Large and small, reptile and mammal, true hibernators and "light sleepers" all pile onto the train. But it's not long before there are problems. Bear's roommate keeps him awake, groundhog's hole is too small and so on. The uniformed railroad bears look over the hibernation maps and sort everyone out so that soon the only sound is of snoozing. An author's note gives more information about hibernation, including the distinction between true hibernators and light sleepers. Cyrus's pencil-and–digital color illustrations are filled with rich colors and details, albeit anthropomorphized ones. The fundamental problem is that a jam-packed train is a poor model to illustrate this phenomenon. Denise Fleming' s Time to Sleep (1997) still sets the standard. (Picture book. 3-5)