Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln?

Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln?

Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator:  Chris Van Dusen 
Fiction  Series
For ages 6 to 8
Candlewick Press, 2016   ISBN: 978-0763673116

One day Baby Lincoln dreams that she is on a train at night. She is looking out of the train window and sees thousands of stars; thousands of shooting stars. As the train clatters through the “starry darkness,” Baby feels “entirely happy.” She is on a “necessary journey” without a known destination, and she is excited as the prospect of the adventure that awaits her.

Then Baby is woken up by the strident voice of her sister Eugenia. Eugenia is being bossy, as usual. To do lists need to be made and goals need to be set Eugenia announces, and as usual Baby complies with a mild “Yes, Sister.” All their lives Baby has obeyed her sister, and even now that she and Eugenia are old ladies, Baby still does as she is told.

At the breakfast table Eugenia tells her sister that she, Baby, has to go to the store to get mousetraps because there are too many mice in the house. Baby is told to write the word mousetraps on a piece of paper, and she starts to do as she is told; she writes the word mouse, but then she stops. Then Baby announces that she will not finish writing the word mousetraps on the paper. She tells Eugenia that she is going on a trip, and she does not mean going on a trip to the store either. No, she is going on a necessary journey and though she is not quite sure what this means, Baby goes to pack.

Feeling very unsure about what she is doing, Baby packs a few things in a suitcase. Baby always does what Eugenia tells her and striking out on her own is unnerving, but she still leaves the house and heads down the street. A neighbor, a little girl called Stella, walks with Baby to the train station and helps her to buy a ticket to a place called Floxum. It does not sound like a particularly interesting place, but it will do.

On the train Baby meets two very interesting people, both of whom encourage her to do things that Eugenia does not approve of. Specifically the travelers entice Baby to read comics and to eat jelly beans. Then a little boy comes on the train and the conductor asks Baby, or Lucille (which is her real name), to keep an eye on him. George starts to cry because he is afraid. Baby knows what that it is like to feel afraid so she makes up a story for George to take his mind of his fears.

Children often imagine that grownups know exactly what they are doing and who they are. The truth of the matter is that often this is not true. At all. In this story we meet a sweet, modest, often fearful little old lady who has to go on a journey to find out things about herself, and to reclaim who she is. She does not go far, or go away for long, but she learns so much and is enriched by what she discovers.

This is one of the titles in the Tales of Deckawoo Drive series. Each one is a gem, a tale in which the main character grows, learns, and finds what he or she is looking for.