One of the wonderful things about two-time Newbery winner Kate DiCamillo (Flora & Ulysses; The Tale of Despereaux) is that she sometimes makes grown-ups the heroes of her children's books, as opposed to killing them off on page one or making them as nasty as a Roald Dahl aunt. In this charming third volume in her Tales from Deckawoo Drive series of stand-alone early-reader chapter books (Leroy Ninker Saddles Up; Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon), the heroine is an elderly woman named Baby Lincoln. (No, Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln? isn't a book about President Lincoln's childhood.)
Baby Lincoln is dreaming of a train, shooting stars and a "necessary journey," when her domineering sister Eugenia shouts "Baby!" with her hands on her hips. "It is late, Baby... Goals must be set. Lists must be made." Before either of them knows exactly what's happening, Baby hears a faraway train whistle, packs a suitcase and embarks on the "necessary journey" of her dreams. As she takes a right onto Deckawoo Drive, "The sun was shining, and Baby's heart felt like a hummingbird in her chest." She buys a train ticket to Fluxom.
Baby revels in her new freedom. On the train she reads a nice man's comics, remembers her real name is Lucille, tries a green jelly bean that tastes like leaves, consoles a very small boy who smells like "peanut butter and construction paper"... and misses her sister Eugenia. Chris Van Dusen's (Mercy Watson series) expressive illustrations add humor to this heartwarming story of both necessary journeys and the joys of coming back home. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness