The Train to Impossible Places

Before I say anything else, I have to just say I love The Train to Impossible Places, as do my year 3/4 class. This is a fantastically written fantasy, adventure story.

Suzy, a physics-loving 11-year-old, wakes up to find a troll laying train tracks through her living room. As a lover of physics, Suzy suddenly finds everything she thought she knew thrown into question as she becomes an accidental passenger and then postie on the Impossible Places postal express. Suzy finds herself visiting worlds she never knew existed and encountering all kinds of people, some good, some bad and some - yet to be decided upon.

When Wilmot (a lone troll postie) discovers Suzy aboard the Postal express, he inducts her as member of the postal service. Suzy's first delivery is to the Lady Crepuscula (a formidable woman whose reputation proceeds her) doesn't quite go to plan and Suzy ends up not only carrying great responsibility but a huge secret; the fate of the impossible place rests on Suzy's shoulders. As Suzy tries to fulfil her new responsibilities as a postie, making deliveries all over the union, she also finds herself wrestling with her conscious to do the right thing.

This book is full of excitement, adventure and friendship, and would suit lower key stage two best. After reading this myself I was certain that my year 3/4 class would also love it. We are now about half way through and all 25 of my reluctant readers have given it a 10/10 so far - a first for any book we have looked at together. The plot is wonderfully creative and P.G. Bell uses a fantastic range of vocabulary, which I have found is great for supporting the development of pupils' own vocabulary.

As a class novel or guided reading book, I feel this text has a lot of breadth for discussion and linked cross-curricular work. I know my pupils are immersed in the world of the Impossible Place and are already talking about creating their own ideas and adding to the places their postal express could visit next.

346 pages / Ages 8+ / Reviewed by Sarah Lynham, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 7+

It's not everyday a train passes through the downstairs of your house with little creatures working as all different kind of things. Suzy is a normal, hardworking school girl who realizes that something isn't right, she hears something downstairs in the middle of the night and finds something unusual. This book is very imaginative and there are so many unexpected surprises.

This book is great for most ages, it doesn't matter how old you are to have somebody read the book to you or read it yourself as long as you understand the book. I love how exciting this book is, you never know what will happen next and it makes you want to never put the book down. I recommend this book to anyone who loves adventures, fantasy and fiction.

Suggested Reading Age 7+

I like that Suzy can hold her ground when she was arguing with the troll and when she took the snow globe from Lady Crepsucular because someone was trapped in it. I found it funny when Suzy did her physics homework; as when her mum and dad told her to have a break she wouldn't and it said she had finished a hour ago but she just filled the pages up with questions. When she hands the homework in even her teacher moans at her because she writes too much! I haven't read it all yet but I can tell it's going to be a great book.

Suggested Reading Age 9+