After the death of his mother, Oscar Ogilvie and his father did what they could to make end meet and life work. Oscar's father sold John Deere tractors to farmers in small Cairo, Illinois, while Oscar worked hard in school. While their life may have looked bleak to someone looking in from the outside, few would expect the joy the father and son found together each day in their basement with their Lionel model trains. On he Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline Candlewick Press September 2010 All that changed in 1929, when Wall Street bankers weren't the only people impacted by the Crash. Oscar's life is forever altered when his father loses his job (as no one is buying tractors when they have no money,) and his home and determines to move to California to make a living, leaving Oscar to live with his constantly disapproving aunt. The final insult: the bank owner, who foreclosed on them, buys their beloved model trains at pennies on the dollar. Over time, Oscar develops a friendship with a jobless man, a former teacher, Mr. Applegate, who repays Oscar's kindness with help with his lessons. When the man gets a job at the bank - the same one that now features Oscar's model trains in the lobby - Oscar loses himself in his models each morning before the bank opens. One morning, his world is shattered (again) as robbers break in and shoot Mr. Applegate and are about to shoot Oscar as well if it weren't for the odd fact that Oscar is no longer at the bank. Oscar, having heard and seen the gunshot leaped out of the way of any further bullets - and landed directly on the model train set. Only Oscar finds that he is now the exact right size to ride the trains; Oscar has been fantastically transformed and transferred to the world of his model trains! Model tickets in hand, each model train came with a faux ticket, Oscar climbs aboard the nearest train. The conductor punches his model ticket and he is off! Along the way, Oscar will meet a would be movie star, a famed director, visit locales from Chicago to Los Angeles and back to New York. He'll even find himself ten years in the future and then years in the past as the trains take him on a journey through time and space. The question is whether or not he'll be able to get back home - and whether or not he can save Mr. Applegate and be reunited with his father. In this time of material excess where the government and families are struggling to make ends meet because of spending problems this book is a timely reminder of what is truly important. But this isn't just for adults, as the book makes for an excellent family read with its beautiful full color illustrations by Ibatoulline and its humor, warmth and timeless adventure. This book makes for a perfect gift for adults with young children and an opportunity to connect. Highly recommended.