In Amit Trainin’s picture book, THERE’S A CROCODILE ON THIS TRAIN! (Kalaniot Books, 2026), translated by Ilana Kurshan, a crocodile boards a train leaving little room for the other animal passengers. Who will be brave enough to stand up to him? In a clever twist, it’s the tiny chick who approaches and befriends the crocodile. The characters are full of charm and the rhyming text makes for a perfect read-aloud. An endnote about the story connects the Pirkei Avot lesson, “Value the honor of others as much as you value your own.” I’m excited to learn more about the creation of this delightful picture book. Welcome, Amit!

What medium did you use in the illustrations for THERE’S A CROCODILE ON THIS TRAIN?

The final illustrations were created digitally in Procreate, but the entire process and all the sketches were done using brush pens and regular pens, the tools I’m used to working with. This is actually the first book I’ve illustrated entirely digitally, without any hand drawn until the final artwork.

As an author/illustrator, what comes first to you—the story or the art?

I actually wrote a story about a train traveling through Israel from Tel Aviv to Haifa, with all kinds of animals getting on and off along the way, including a crocodile and some chicks. I wrote it in 2021, when I was living in New York. I missed Israel very much at the time, and I felt a need to tell stories that took place there.

But I didn’t do anything with the story until 2022, when I was invited to take part in a creative workshop organized by PJ Library. An editor there saw potential in the story, and that’s really how the book was born.

For me, illustration and text go hand in hand. As an illustrator, I’m always telling stories through images, even when I’m not illustrating a book. Sometimes three or four stories pop into my head in a single day. I don’t write or draw all of them. I just try to remember them in my head.

Ilana Kurshan has translated other books you have written. Are you part of the process, or does the translator work independently?

I wasn’t involved in the translation process at all. When I read Ilana’s translation for the first time, I was amazed by how she managed to preserve both the humor and the particular character of the Hebrew, and recreate them so naturally in English. I was really taken with her writing. It almost felt as though she had somehow gotten inside my head and then did it better than I could have myself.

Do you think there is a difference between your Hebrew- and English-speaking audiences?

Not really. The only difference, in the case of this particular book, is that it refers to specific places in Israel that Israeli children are likely to recognize, while American children may not. But I don’t think that’s a problem at all.

The book deals with themes and conflicts that exist everywhere—prejudice, courage, and how we respond to someone who seems different from us. So I don’t think of it as speaking to one particular audience. It’s a story that can speak to everyone.

How is the process of writing and illustrating children’s books different from the other art you create?

First of all, illustrating a book takes much more time. Sometimes I spend a year or more illustrating a single book. Unlike most of my other work, a picture book requires continuity, not only in the characters, but often in the settings and all the little details as well. I love to create a visual story that develops alongside the text rather than simply illustrating what the words already say. In this book, for example, all the animals on the train have their own little stories that I invented while I was illustrating.

The hens who appear on the first page carrying a basket of eggs have a chick by the final page. The pelican who carries a fish in his pouch eventually releases it into the sea. And the cow who boards the train carrying bags of wool ends up knitting a scarf for the crocodile.

There are many more little stories like these hidden throughout the illustrations, which readers can discover for themselves as they look closely at the book. Because this time I also wrote the book, there was a great deal of work on the text with my editor, Neri Aluma. So the whole process took much longer than most of my work as an illustrator—but it was also a lot of fun, and definitely worth it.

Thank you, Amit!

Amit Trainin is both an author and an illustrator. He is also a lecturer in the visual communication department at The Betzalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Amit has won prizes for his illustrations in Israel and worldwide. His works have been exhibited in many galleries and museums. Amit has a studio in Tel Aviv, where he drinks a lot of coffee and creates amazing stories. 

Tagged Amit Trainin, Kalaniot, picture book