DINOSAUR TRAIN

A boy's love of trains and dinosaurs meet up in a fabulous fantasy ride in Gurney's (the Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series) debut picture book. "Thursday was a day much like any other for Jesse," the tale begins; a quartet of playful vignettes depicts his activities, including riding a toy train and bathing with dino toys. That night, while drawing a picture of a train laden with prehistoric creatures, "Suddenly there was a loud noise and the whole house began to shake!" In a full-bleed spread, a dinosaur's spiky magenta tail pushes its way through the boy's open window, its scales providing a stairway: "All aboard!" A T-Rex ticket taker directs him to the dining car, where a brontosaurus offers to show Jesse the view. No bigger than his beverage, Jesse stands on his seat to drink from a bent straw. The prehistoric passengers seem lit from below, like the volcanic light they pass in the night. A predictable route returns Jesse to his bedroom, but the illustrations mine a deep well of childhood enthusiasm for a Jurassic cast and adventures on the rails. Ages 3-6. (Sept.)