Louise Fitzgerald welcomes you aboard the Night-Time Train
About Author
Louise Fitzgerald tells ReadingZone about her new bedtime picture book, Welcome to the Night-Time Train, and taking young children on a journey to bedtime.
Louise lives and works in the UK. When she isn't writing, she works as a freelance acting, life skills and performing arts tutor, teaching students of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
Interview
September 2025
Louise Fitzgerald welcomes you aboard the Night-Time Train
The beguiling image of a train taking its sleepy passengers to the land of bedtime will enthrall young children in Welcome to the Night-Time Train, a gorgeous lullaby of a picture book by author Louise Fitzgerald, illustrated by Margarita Kukhtina.
We caught up with Louise to find out why train journeys are so captivating in stories, and how she has used the images and rhythm of a journey to develop her own picture book story, Welcome to the Night-Time Train.
Review: "We LOVE this book! Gently paced with rhyming text, Welcome to the Night-Time Train is a warm picture book about getting ready for bed."
Q&A with Louise Fitzgerald introducing her picture book, Welcome to the Night-Time Train
"There is something quite magical about getting a train to anywhere in the real world... so it's even MORE magical
to think we could get on a fantastical train to magical lands."
1. How did you start writing picture books for children, and what draws you to this style of story-telling? What kinds of picture books do you enjoy reading, and what do you enjoy writing about?
I've always enjoyed writing but when I was younger, I didn't have the confidence to believe I could write stories anyone else would want to read. I think that's why I ended up training to be a musical theatre actor as this allowed me to perform other people's stories. However, when I became a Mum - reading stories at bedtime was one of my most favourite things to do with my children. We used to enjoy reading all sorts of stories, many of which were about going to bed! I remember we particularly loved ‘Russell the Sheep' by Rob Scotton. It was about a sheep trying to get to sleep.
Picture books are meant to be read aloud and enjoyed with an ]'udience' in mind. So, I've come to realise this is why I enjoy writing them so much. They're a mini performance; therefore, I get to relive my acting days! I love comical picture books, but also books filled with love and adventure. I hope I capture some of those themes in my stories.
2. Can you tell us about your new picture book, Welcome to the Night-Time Train, and what happens in the story?
Welcome to the Night-Time Train' is about a magical journey through fantastical lands leading our characters to bed. On the journey they visit different places like Toothbrush Town and Library Land, before ending up . . . well you'll have to read it to find out if they get to their destination!
3. What inspired you to write about the night-time routine as a train journey, taking in places like Pyjamaville and Toothbrush Town?
One evening I was scribbling away in my notepad, and as I was playing on the page, I began to grow the idea of Imagination Stations. I started to play around with the question of what kinds of places children or magical animals might visit on their way to bed. The train journey started to evolve, and different night-time destinations started to form in my mind from there. It was like my imagination was going on a journey of its own and I followed behind, making a note of all the places it visited.
4. Why is the train such a useful image for night-time stories, which we've seen in classics like The Polar Express?
The melody of a train moving never fails to send me to sleep! So, this must have influenced me in some way to think of writing about a train journey to bedtime. Real life train journeys across the country can be a true adventure and as a child I loved looking out the window at all the different landscapes we would pass along the tracks, in fact, I still enjoy doing that now. There is something quite magical about getting a train to anywhere in the real world... so it's even MORE magical to think we could get on a fantastical train to magical lands.
Telling a story using the motion of a train rolling along the tracks naturally lends itself to reading out loud, so that coupled with a majestic looking steam train heading off into the night is surely a classic recipe for success. I'd be over the moon if my bedtime train story is loved in the same way as Polar Express!!!
5. How did the train image affect the rhythm of your text and the vocabulary you use in the story?
I played around with language, rhyme, and rhythm greatly when creating this text and it was definitely a team effort with my editor to come up with phrases that really evoked the motion of the train. It might be a short story, but it's no less of a challenge to get it just right. Playing with words and rhyme is fun, but it can also be extremely tricky, there were certainly times when I had to put the text down and have a break, before coming back and working out where each word went best, a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle.
6. The illustrations by Margarita Kukhtina are gorgeous - what do you feel they bring to the story, especially as the text is so open to the artist's interpretation?
One of the best things about being a picture book author is the way an illustrator brings your words to life. Even though I do imagine how the text will look - it's never as wonderful as what an illustrator creates. I feel so fortunate that Margarita has collaborated with me on this story. She has a magical touch; her artwork is inviting and yet other worldly within the same scene. Her characters are so adorable and sweet, but each has their own cheeky personality. I absolutely love the way Margarita built the world around the bedtime journey and especially how the train journeys through the spreads... the last one feels particularly magical to me.
7. Which is your favourite stop / spread on the train's journey and why?
Well, that's a tricky question to answer, but I do particularly like the Library Land and Starlight Skies spreads, as they were so different (and infinitely better) than what I originally imagined them to look like. I'd love to read a book in Margarita's Library Land, and I could certainly send myself to sleep in her Starlight Skies.
8. What are your favourite kinds of journeys? Where do you go to relax, and to find inspiration for new stories?
Well, it's not a long journey, but I do have a big comfy swing chair at the end of my garden, it's placed in a spot where the sun sets, and so it always catches the last hazy moments of the day. I love nothing more than to walk bare feet on the grass to the end of my garden and snuggle up with my dog, a cup of tea and plenty of cushions. I swing gently watching the sun sink behind the trees... It's a great spot to relax, write new stories and of course have a little doze!
Welcome to the Night-Time Train: Jump aboard for a sleepy bedtime ride
The Quickest Bedtime Story Ever!
