Trains and Books

My son is a huge train fanatic. When he was younger I thought it was just the normal Thomas the Tank Engine infatuation and once he his grade school it would wane. But he's 8 now and still going strong. Thomas has faded to the background but now we are into HO trains. So much so that he is a member of the Youth In Model Railroading organization and he actually exhibits at model train shows around New England. Above is his "module," the 6 foot section of the layout that he's responsible for decorating. Of course, since he's only eight, he got some help from mom and dad.



Why am I telling you all this? I wanted to show you how we incorporated one of his favorite picture books into the scene. We found a great little car and camper which reminded us of "Camping Spree with Mr. Magee" written by Chris VanDusen. So we gave the camper and car a new paint job to match the car in the book we and made a little dog Dee out of sculpey. If you know the book you may say, hey wait a minute, Mr. Magee didn't have a VW Bug (sorry it's the best we could find) In case you were wondering the thing to the right of the car is a campfire that has a little red LED inside so it actually lights up. (Mom is so proud of herself for figuring that one out.) Now if I can just find a duck on a bike for over by the barn...