I dream of trains

I dream of trains
By: Angela Johnson
Illustrated by: Loren Long
I dream of trains is the story of a boy that dreams the days and nights away of being on a train. The African-American boy narrates through his journey of living out his lifelong dream of being a train conductor, just like the famous Casey Jones and his side kick fireman Sim Webb. It takes you through him getting through his long days of working in the Mississippi cotton fields while listening for the Casey’s whistle on the train, as it takes him to where he one day want to be. Through his adventures he dreams of working with the historical figure Casey Jones and traveling through the plains, past the desert, and to the ocean. Through the boys dreams, it also takes you through the adventure of Casey Jones and final days on the train as he crashed his engine on April 30, 1900 and ultimately saving Sim Webb’s life by making him jump out of the train leaving him to take full control. The little boy snaps in and out of reality, getting glimpses of him pursuing all that he wants, dreams of leaving Mississippi and being one with the train.

On the final page of the text, there is a note of the book giving background and historical information of this time period and the reasons for the book. There is also short passage of John Luther “Casey” Jones life.

I dream of trains is a historical piece of fiction that takes you through the historical figure of “Casey” Jones through the eyes of an admiring African American boy. Through the voice and perspective of this boy, he takes you in and out of not only his life but through Casey Jones as well. The text uses a simple format that plays off the exquisite illustrations that piece the book together. The illustrations are beautifully displayed through either a one or two page spread flowing and collaborating perfectly with the text. The illustrations bring you into the story while the text informs and educates you about Casey Jones and the dreams this little boys leads. It is a text that plays off the theme of speaking to every child that has a hero and wants his/her to be just that. I believe this story does a superb job of taking you through the life of an African American sharecropper through this time period while showing the audience that dreaming of becoming something/someone else is how they got through their days. This little boy dreaming of trains is a way of showing a historical figure but ultimately who he wanted to be and exactly how he wanted to get there. Even though it is a rollercoaster of watching his dreams being flattened and then restored, “it is a story of the force that sustains the human spirit-hope” (Johnson, I dream of trains). I would recommend this book as a piece to include in a future classroom because it takes a child through how a little boy would do anything to be like his favorite hero, but it is about overcoming the many obstacles that get in your way of pursuing your dreams. I believe this is a great text to show the historical events of Mississippi sharecropper as the final pages, note about this book, gives the references of history and how African Americans had the exhausting task of picking cotton to make a life for their families. It is also through this text, to show the historical significance of those sharecroppers listening for the trademark whistle of Casey Jones which was a symbol of hope. The hope that one day they could pursue all the dreams they wished and envisioned for themselves as they worked through the cotton fields of Mississippi. Overall, this picture book not only takes you through the historical time period of what it consisted of when working on the cotton fields, but it also conveys the message of following your dreams and never settling until you have reached who you want to be.


Angela Johnson is a very extraordinary woman that has over 25 published pieces and in an interview with TeachingBooks.net that describe her writing process and the signifcance in each of her pieces of text. In making her an "insider author" she describes her pieces as, "Every book has pieces of my life" (http://www.teachingbooks.net/content/JohnsonA_qu.pdf). Through this quote, it makes I dream of trains an insider voice as she describes many of her experiences through observing and taking part in her nieces and nephews lives.


Johnson, Angela. I Dream of Trains. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003