Bluey: Trains

Title: Bluey: Trains

Author: Penguin Random House

Genre: Junior Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Published: 5^th March 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 80

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: Based on the hit ABC KIDS TV show!

Join Bluey on an adventure in her first fiction novel! As the Heelers play a game of Trains, what could possibly go wrong? Everything!

A gorgeous illustrated chapter book for 6+ readers.

Bluey is an award-winning preschool show about Bluey, a blue heeler pup, and her family. Airing on ABC KIDS, the show has amassed legions of dedicated fans and hugely popular ranges of books, toys, clothes, games and more.

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Bluey is an award-winning preschool show on the ABC about a blue heeler puppy called Bluey and her family. The latest addition to the show’s merchandise and universe is a new junior fiction or early chapter book series that centres around the games that the Heeler family plays. In the first book, they are playing trains. Bandit – Dad – is the train driver whilst Bluey, Bingo and Mum, Chilli, will play various characters who are catching the train.

Bingo plays vet, Dr Gloria, heading to work, and taking her daughter to preschool, Mum plays her assistant and other passengers, and Bluey plays the annoying passenger who causes trouble. But what happens when the chaos Bluey’s character makes means that other people get hurt or lose their jobs?

Like a good Bluey episode, there are lessons about adaptability and respecting other people in this new book, where you can learn about getting on with people, learning about the consequences for your or other people’s actions, and coming up with solutions that can help you and those around you.

As an adult watcher of Bluey, I was excited when I heard about this series, as I wanted to see how the creators of the series took the world of Bluey into novels for readers starting out on their independent reading journey. It has simple text, and begins the story with them in their fictional roles – and they don’t break character. This added layer of complexity illustrates how Bluey can be used in a variety of ways to teach different lessons through entertainment. And this series will encourage reluctant readers to engage with books using popular and established characters like Bluey that they can recognise.

It will also be a fun series for any reader who loves Bluey to read. It’s like the next step after the picture books and show, and shows how far imagination can take you, and the power it has to take you away from the things you do every day and examine the world through different perspectives.