ScoutTN Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 My DS, 3.5 yo loves trains and we'd like to get him a book or two to feed his interest. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punks in Ontario Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 My guys have always loved Thomas the Tank Engine. Even at age 6, ds still enjoys the stories - not the watered down readers, but the originals. Other than that, good realistic pictures of trains can be fun as well. You can explain a bit of the captions, or paraphrase some of the text according to interest and attention span. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britomart Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 We really like Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk. Great illustrations and fun to read aloud. I like how the entire landscape the train goes through is made out of items in the little boy's room - the "river" the train goes over is the goldfish tank, the "tunnel" is the train going under his bed, etc. I'm also a big fan of the classic Golden Book The Little Red Caboose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 There's "Choo Choo" by Virginia Lee Burton. And... a couple we love by Bill Peet, but I can't remember the names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 The complete collection of Thomas the Tank Engine by the Rev. W. Awdry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Trouble on the Tracks Two Little Trains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Train Song by Diane Siebert is my favorite. Other fun titles: Puff, Puff, Chugga, Chugga by Christopher Wormell Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown Engine, Engine Number Nine by Stephanie Calmenson Cinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 It's absolutely charming. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 (edited) Are you looking for storybooks or real train picture type books? My son adored The Little Red Train Storybook at that age. In fact, we read it so much it needed replaced and it was a well made book. I've still got the old one too because it has such wonderful memories for me. I see it's only available on amazon used now but inexpensive. If you don't mind used I bet he would really enjoy the stories and pictures. Both my kids loved them. It looks like the individual stories are sold on their own perhaps. Niccolini's Song is a wonderful book we loved as well that I highly recommend. We enjoyed Choo Choo by Burton too someone else mentioned and that's a classic worth having as all her books are I think. We enjoyed The Little Red Caboose as well. The Little Train by Greene and M. Wise Brown has a Train to Timbuctoo by M. Wise Brown are enjoyable to read but it looks like you can't get those new anymore. We actually have a slew of train storybooks and my train loving son loved every one. But the two I listed first would be my top picks. My son enjoyed books that had real train pictures as well and I'd recommend at least one or two for a train loving boy. We had the Priddy My Big Train book though I don't remember the age he moved on from that one (I know he had one very young). At that age he absolutely loved a train guide book that had actual photos of trains all over the world. I don't see it anymore but there are lots of books like that on amazon (DK, EyeWitness, and on) if he might like pictures of real trains. Depending on the book we would read captions of photos for example rather than text. My son had (has) lots of them. Edited December 11, 2010 by sbgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 Freight Train by Donald Crews is by FAR my favorite train book for that age. I'm surprised no one had mentioned it yet in this thread. It's just so simple and amazing. I really like Crews and this is by far his best work. Also, while it's not totally a train book, we also really like the very unknown bedtime book William and the Night Train by Mij Kelly. It uses the train as a metaphor for night and bedtime. The illustrations are terrific and very detailed. I think that was probably my kids' favorite bedtime book at age 3.5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 We love Usborne books around here. They're very well made and stand up to those little train/car/truck-loving boys! They have quite a few to choose from. I think a fairly frequent WTM poster is an independent consultant (they all have their own websites and hers is linked in her signature). Otherwise, you can buy from my real-life friend's Usborne site: http://www.ubah.com/L2975. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowperch Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 Caboose on the Loose by Bill Peet Choo Choo by Virginia Lee Burto The Little Train by Graham Greene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaBearTeacher Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 A great book is All Aboard: A True Train Story by Susan Kuklin. Amazing photographs and sound effects!!! We also liked Engine Engine Number Nine and Freight Train (already mentioned) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 My 3.5yo is obsessed with trains and loves this one http://www.amazon.com/Trains-Steaming-Pulling-Patricia-Hubbell/dp/0761455930/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292032108&sr=1-15 I like the rhythm, which is important when reading it every day!!!!! Of course, anything with Thomas is a hit, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 We love this one: http://www.amazon.com/Steam-Smoke-Steel-Back-Trains/dp/0881069728/ref=pd_sim_b_4 I checked it out from the library once when ds was almost 4, and pretty much bought our own copy right away. (According to amazon, I bought it on ds's 4th birthday). The artwork is richly detailed two page spreads. (There's a cat somewhere in every one.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlaura Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 We have train lovers here too. The Little Red Train collection is wonderful, and Thomas of course. I'm surprised nobody mentioned Tootle, a Little Golden Book favorite around here. We like these two for some nonfiction: All Aboard Trains, and My Big Train Book. http://www.amazon.com/All-Aboard-Trains-Reading-Railroad/dp/0448191113/ref=pd_sim_b_3 http://www.amazon.com/Train-Priddy-Books-Little-People/dp/0312491867/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allearia Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 Train Song by Diane Siebert is my favorite. I was going to suggest this as well. Along with Thomas the Tank Engine. My son when he was 2 listened to that, even though I thought the language would be over his head but he loved it. The language is pretty sophisticated. We liked the small format books with just a few stories, it was less overwhelming. http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Tank-Engine-Anniversary-Railway/dp/0375833730/ref=pd_sim_b_3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 11, 2010 Author Share Posted December 11, 2010 Load of great ideas. Now off to Amazon...ho ho ho :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 In thanks for all the great suggestions on this thread, I wanted to add another one that I don't think anyone mentioned: The Little Train by Lois Lenski. It almost reads like non-fiction because the descriptions are so detailed. We're doing a train theme week starting tomorrow and I'll be ordering many of these books from the library. Thank you, WTMers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tootle Tootle! We read it a hundred times. The Little Red Caboose (I really love Tibor Gergely) Peet's The Caboose Who Got Loose And, although it isn't trains, give Katy and the Big Snow a whirl: map reading, social structure, teamwork, counting, and spirit all at once. There is a traintrack around the town Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 In thanks for all the great suggestions on this thread, I wanted to add another one that I don't think anyone mentioned: The Little Train by Lois Lenski. It almost reads like non-fiction because the descriptions are so detailed. We're doing a train theme week starting tomorrow and I'll be ordering many of these books from the library. Thank you, WTMers! This is the one I was going to mention. I learned more about trains from that book! Also, Freight Train, already mentioned, is simple, hypnotic and addictive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Freight Train by Donald Crews is by FAR my favorite train book for that age. I'm surprised no one had mentioned it yet in this thread. It's just so simple and amazing. I really like Crews and this is by far his best work. :iagree: My 10 year old absolutely loved that one when he was younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toawh Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 My boys LOVE this book. It comes with an audio cd which they listen too at least twice a week during nap. http://http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0794530702/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0746034733&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0RN9AX4B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Just wanted to add another one to this great thread. We only read this once from the library, but it has stuck with me and I think of it pretty often: Country Crossing by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Ted Rand. It's hard to explain, but it's so evocative. Like a beautiful scene in a '70s movie or something. Worth a look if you can find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Just wanted to add another one to this great thread. We only read this once from the library, but it has stuck with me and I think of it pretty often: Country Crossing by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Ted Rand. It's hard to explain, but it's so evocative. Like a beautiful scene in a '70s movie or something. Worth a look if you can find it. Thanks for the tip! We have other books illustrated by Ted Rand that we really like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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