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Niccolini's Song
Chuck Wilcoxen
Illustrated by Mark Buehner
Picture Book
Ages 4 and up
Penguin Putnum USA, 2004, 0-525-46805-6
  Niccolini is the watchman in a train yard and one night a band of raccoons gives him bit of a fright when he thinks that they are trespassers. He is not the only one who has been disturbed by the rascally crowd for one of the trains in the yard has also been roused and he asks the startled and much surprised Niccolini if he will sing him to sleep for the next day the train has much work to do and must be well rested. Being a good-hearted fellow Niccolini agrees to sing the train a song and in time the train is fast asleep.
  Soon, many of the other trains in the yard ask Niccolini to sing them to sleep too for it is such a pleasant experience and some of them are feeling particularly "unloved". Niccolini is happy to bring them "comfort" and it is no real trouble for him to sing to them.
  Then a young mother discovers the soporific effects of Niccolini's songs and his magic becomes the boon of not just the trains but also of the parents of his town.
  Combined with the cool, blueish twilight pictures, Chuck Wilcoxen's wonderful story is a perfect bedtime story for young train lovers. The good heart of the train yard watchman and the kindness of the trains themselves comes through to give the tale a delicious magical quality which only gets richer at every reading.

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