Un tren llamado Esperanza = A train called Hope
(VOX Books)

Audio playback device includes headphone jack, external speaker, play/pause button, volume controls, page-turning controls, rechargeable battery, and removable AC adapter.

Book originally published: Houston, TX : Piñata Books, an imprint of Arte Público Press, [2021].

"The permanently attached VOX Reader transforms an ordinary print book into an all-in-one read-along. There's no need for computers, tablets or CDs. Children simply push a button to listen and read"--Publisher's website

Read by Anthony Michael Lopez.

In this poignant bilingual picture book, a boy remembers his first present, "a little train crossing / the mountain of my pillow / over a valley on my bed." There's even a girl who looks like his sister waving happily from the window! Years later, after his parents have gone far away in search of work and a better future, the boy rides in a real train to join his family. This one is loaded with hundreds of children traveling alone, just like him. There are frightening strangers, others along the way who want to jump on and, scariest of all, a boy who almost falls off the roof because he can't stay awake any longer. When the train finally arrives at its destination, everyone jumps off and the boy begs "the moon to shine, / to light up the border" so he can cross and find his mother. This moving, poetic story by award-winning Salvadoran author Mario Bencastro touches on the difficult journey north many Central American children make in hopes of finding their parents and a better life.

Ages 6-9.

Grades 2-3.

In Spanish and English.