Trains and Railroads Books

This is my 20 month old son's FAVORITE book. He constantly wants it to be read and re-read to him....and this is the only book that he asks for (even though we have a lot of other good ones). For any kids that love trains, this is a great book. And for parents, it's an enjoyable/easy read. And the illustrations are very nice too.

I have read this book to a baby I babysit for, and he loves it! I've been reading it to him since he was 4 months old and he still likes to have it read to him over and over again! The primary colors in the book make it so vivid and colorful and you can be very animated when you read it, they love it! I ordered one for my sister's new baby!

Fantastic pictures and great text, this book is a sure winner for any young train lover!

The little boy in this story loves trains, and when it's time for bed he chugs his wooden train all around a most elaborate track...under the tunnels under the chairs in the bedroom, around some blocks that might cause a landslide, on a bridge across the river (a fish tank) and onto bed with the tired little boy who settles in with some stuffed animals for the night. It's a soothing and inventive bedtime story, and a pleasure to read aloud.

We have both the board book and the regular book. We love them and read them on a daily basis. Definitely a must for all boys!

My oldest son loved this book. It was his favorite when he was little. It builds on vocabulary; you can count the cars, name the colors, and look at different scenarios. I learned a lot about trains by reading this book to them. I am raising my children bilingual and when I found it in English and Spanish I knew I had to get it for them. It also helped me remember the words in Spanish, which I had forgotten. I must have for any child that likes trains. Donald Crews again has delighted us with a masterpiece.

A must-read to share with kids! Freight Train uses simple text and clear illustrations. The book can be very interactive for little ones: count the cars, identify colors, make "whoosh" sounds when the train is in motion and find the smoke from the steam engine. Perfect for toddlers!

I absolutely love this book! We checked it out all the time when I was young, about three to five years old, because I could not get enough of it. I loved the shiny pages, the bright, solid colors, and the different cars on the train. I'd forgotten, until I read the reviews here, that the book had words, but then, that's how I learned the names of train cars. I'm getting this book for my son.

My son loves trains, and he loves this book. I like the way it titles all the different cars, not being a train person myself it has taught me a few things. I like the concepts of the pictures being slightly blurred when the train is moving, b/c we match our train sounds to the speed as we;re reading. It's very delightful, it def deserved the caldecott medal.

My 6-month old loves to read and these pictures are perfect for babies. It's great that it's a board book so that we don't worry about the pages ripping.

I bought this book for a boy who I work with and I fall in love. I found it in great time cause feel down right now. And this simple book helped me stand up and look at my life from different perspective. Now will buy it for every kid or special people in my life

Whether or not you or your honoree grew up listening to or reading The Little Engine that Could, you'll find this book to be the perfect way to say, "I'm proud of you, graduate. I always knew that you had the ability and would put forth the effort to be successful."

This is a great alternative to other frequently given books like The Places You Will Go.

This is the most inspirational book I have read in a long time!! Recommended for all ages

I am an elementary school teacher and also the mother of 4. My oldest is graduating from high school this year. After I read this book, I bought several. One for my son and several for his friends. I also sent it to my nephew that is leaving for a mission to Honduras for the next 2 years. It's a perfect book for those that are heading off in new directions in their lives and it gives them advice and encouragement! I love it!

This is a book that follows the I Think I Can Book, about the little train, It is a wonderful book for anyone that needs a little boost of self-esteem, or courage. It is perfect for those that are graduating or who have completed a difficult task in their life. I would recommend it to anyone.

As I read this book I could almost feel the track clicking below the engine, hear the chuffing of the engine as it labored to pull the cars, listen to the lonesome sound of the whistle as the engineer arrived at the crossing and feel the power as the fireman put the coal to the firebox and the engineer pulled the Johnson bar. All in all a great read and a book that anyone interested in the steam era would read with relish.

One of the most compelling railroad books I've read - the narrative is compelling because of Orr's consistent, insightful commitment to doing his job well and discovering the most efficient way to get his train over the road. Of course hardcore railfans will enjoy this book, but I think students of industrial history and those interested in the way people go about their jobs (a la Studs Terkel/working) will get something out of this book as well.

The detailed descriptions in "Set Up Running" will have you smelling coal smoke. Even though I have been a rail fan for all of my 65 years, was an NYC-PC employee, and I'm a native of Pennsylvania, I learned something new on nearly every page and thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Although "Set Up Running" deals almost exclusively with operations on a PRR branch line, ferroequinologists (students of the iron horse) everywhere will love this book. It has the unique quality of making you wish it would go on forever.

When I read a book or article about railroads it is easy to tell when the writer is over his head. Not here. This book is authentic.

The time covers a great period of growth of steam locomotive development. PRR classes from the old class R through the M1a are run and evaluated. Which one is the engineer's favorite? You might be surprised.

The book is a labor of love. It is human as well as technological. Here you find the enthusiasm of the young man, the confidence of the mature man, and the feelings of being squeezed out of the retiring man. As I finished the book I sat and thought about the family for a long time.

Set Up Running is simply the VERY BEST railroad related book which I have EVER read! If you don't have it GET IT! PERIOD! (PS: I have NO financial interest in this book or any organization/company which sells it). I'm doing YOU a favor by rating this book and advising YOU to get it!)

ceh

This book is a nice bedtime read. Good illustrations and cadence. Any kid would love to have this read to them.

My 2-year-old son absolutely adores this book! My husband had to read it to him every night at bedtime for weeks, until we finally wised up and found another equally "exciting" book for him. He has dozens of books in the bookcase in his bedroom and throughout our house, but this is definitely one of his favorites. The story is fun and the illustrations give my son much to look at and mull over. The best part is that when the book is over, my son is ready to go to sleep! :-)

My 2 boys, 5 & 3 years old really love this book. It's an easy, soothing and enjoyable read. It's short enough to keep them captivated, but long enough to tell a story. Nice colorful illustrations. A good bedtime book for any young train lover.

My 3 year old son LOVES trains so we were excited to find a new train book for our bedtime routine. It's a fun story with silly pictures. The train passes through many interesting places on it's way to bedtime. My son enjoys pointing out all the oddities in the illustrations--mostly to draw out the story!

All of my kids love trains and this is a great bedtime story about going off to bed. The pictures are cute and it's not a very long book to read.

My 3rd son loves trains much more than my 1st who loved them a lot, but...although he doesn't have a ton of words yet and is only starting to put 3 or more words together can tell you the entire plot of this story...fills in the word missing if you stop for a second...points out people in the book as his cat, his grandma, etc...it has everything a train loving kid could ask for including another favorite with sounds and farm animals! Great classic...hope they come out with a board book for those nights when you really need to get them to bed!!! or to take in the car!!!

Choo Choo the runaway engine is a delightful story that mesmerizes three to four year old boys who like trains. Our son asks for this volume each night.
As with all of Virginia Lee Burton's books, the illustrations are delightful, here all rendered in charcoal, which is strangely appropriate for the "shiny black engine" at the center of the story.
The story is simple and easily understood by little readers, and they can pick out some words and map them to the illustrations. There is nothing objectionable in the tale, involving an engine who wants to break free of her responsibilities and run away to be the center of attention. Her engineer, conductor, and coal-man all work hard to chase her and bring her back, and she learns the lesson that running away from those who care for you typically ends in disaster.
We bought our edition in London, without the cassette, which strikes me as a bit datted in this CDROM and DVD era.
Highly recommended.

My train-loving son really enjoyed this book many times but we never bought it because it takes a little while to read it. Some nights when you're trying to hurry up the bedtime routines it feels like a very, very long time to read it.

Now at 32 months, he loves it even more. He can recite the entire book page by page. He knows the names of the characters and their jobs. He confirms that the "coal car fell off the bridge onto the barge and now the train derrick picks it up." all the sketches are black and white and quite unique. i recommend this book for all ages, boy or girl.

This book is one of Burton's masterpieces. She wrote and illustrated her books for her son and the reader can tell that she definitely knows what children, especially little boys want in a picture book. This book has been one of my children's favorites and now I am reading it to my grandson. Written 60 years ago it certainly qualifies as a classic!

As a retired elementary teacher, I value literacy experiences for young children. I purchased this book for my grandson's third birthday. He already had "My Big Truck Book" and loves it, it is one of his favorites. He has well over 100 at the present time, but turns again and again to this one. "My Big Train Book" is fast becoming another favorite. The bright pictures are great. I would recommend either or both these books.

My son asks to have this book read to him over and over. It's a hit!

This book has gone through two of my sons. Fantastic for the 'little' train lover with clear colourful pictures.

My 3-year-old son loves this book, it's got train pictures from all over the world, and that my son realized that there are many other train styles besides Thomas, and they are very very cool.

My almost-4-year-old grandson loves trains. He loves this book. He's a "big-boy" now, by his own definition, and has outgrown wanting to be held and rocked too much, but he wants me to sit with him in the rocker and read this book together over and over. What Grammy wouldn't love that?!

Jimmy Liao is my favourite illustrator and I was excited to find his book translated into English. I have seen the illustrations before in the Chinese book and enjoyed them on a visual level. However, having the text in English really brought the story to life.

The story is of a young woman who is going blind - it is an exploration of sight and how imagination can compensate for the loss of sight. The ending is inspiring.

This book would be excellent to expose children to a different perspective of the world and also would make a lovely gift for any adult who enjoys detailed and whimsical illustrations.

The reason I bought this book is I rented a movie called "The Sound of Color". It is a movie about a woman who is blind, strong, resourceful and full of joy. In the movie she teaches a man who becomes blind how to live and navigate around the city he once knew. The movie has drawings from the book and I became intrigued. The director of the movie told how he loved the book but it was hard to bring it to film. I disagree with him because his film and the book tells of one persons joy with the world around her even though she becomes blind and can't see it anymore. The beautiful ink and watercolor drawings with the powerful story will show you another way to look at your world and inspire your imagination.

This books is good in English, but I preferred the Chinese version much better. In English, things got a little over simplified, where as they were more complex in Chinese. I recently saw the Chinese version available for sale on the China Books website.
This book is age appropriate for older children to adults, not exactly children. I wouldn't buy it for anyone younger than 10.

Captivatingly colourful and creative illustrations combine with dreamy inner dialogue to carry us along on a journey of reflection, isolation, loss and hope. This book envelopes our whole family and sweeps us away.

With allusions to "The Wizard of Oz," "Alice in Wonderland," and psychologist/anthropologist C. G. Jung, "Color of Sounds" tells teh story of a blind young girl who rides a vast subway network because "I have a journey to go on. There are some thing I need to find." What follows is a remarkable narrative about internal and external discovery, with some of the most luscious and creative illustrations in recent memory.

The girl disembarks at various subway stops (subway illustrations are always panelled strips running across the middle of a two page spread), and climbs colorfully patterned stairs (often reminscent of M.C.Escher) and arrives at archtypal settings: An apple tree sitting Eden-like in a verdant forest, alongside dolphis and atop a whale, a topiary-adorned maze. Jimmy Liao presents his metaphors on both adult and children's levels. While adults may recognize the symbolic conflicts and issues presented by a maze; for example, children benefit from the explicit text: "Sometimes the street twist themselves into a maze.But if you look hard enough, there's always a way out. Other sections may benefit from discussion at an age-appropriate level. At one subway station, there are four trains going in both directions, all filled with people, and all colored differently. THe girl stands between them, "Which is the right one? It's easy to get lost underground."

At his point, she seems to take her own route, riding a kiddie train (decorated with motifs decorated a la Guaguin, Matisse, and others), then abandons the train to a white swan swimming against a cloudy yet luminescent background (a mystically beautiful and serene illustration). She slowly arrives at her answers. "HOme is the place where everything I've lost is waiting patiently for me to find my way back." She realizes that because she "went forward, step by step, into the dark," used her other sense (listening "for the sound of colors I can't see"; smelling the shapes and tasting "the light and dark," and hoping for someone "who'll sit beside me, sip tea, tell me her hopes for the future, and listen to mine." (Here, the two-page spread depicts her sitting on a green oval-shaped chair, surrounded by four rows of empty chairs in various colors, shapes, and sizes.

Towards the conclusion, the young girl encounters a butterfly, whom she believes may offer the answers to her hopes and dreams:

She'll tale me
to the friend I need to find.
She'll lead me to the place
where all the colors are.

she'll bring me back to the light that I lost,
still glowing here, in my heart.

An enormously colorful mosaic of birds, flowers, eyes, and other motifs surround the now smiling girl, when Liao write "in my heart." It's neither saccharine or precious. While the book may be read at many levels, and it simulatneously present many emotions and moods (fear, comfort, solitude, hope, wonder) the overall effect is an almost staggering visual and narrative display of poetry. The undertones can be dark and may even frighten some children (know your audience), but for othos who have begun their own journies of self- and other- discovery, for those who feel lost or have experienced pain, poor health, or disability, this book highlights the fact and ignites thought of possibility and transcendance.

Byron Barton's Trains has become an unlikely favorite for our 2-year old. I say unlikely because it's so different from what most of his favorites (which are heavy on Sandra Boynton, Jez Alborogh, and the Spot series) are like. The art is extremely simple, using lots of bold colors, and the story doesn't rhyme or feature any noticeable repetition. It's not really even a story at all, but rather a descriptive sentence on each page highlighting the kind of train or activity shown.

I don't know whether it's the bold colors or just the subject matter (my son is absolutely fascinated by all kinds of vehicles), but this little board book went straight into his bedtime "top 5" and shows no sign of leaving! I may not get it, but I'm confident enough after seeing my son's reaction to this book to recommend Trains to the parents of any toddler interested in trains.

My son loved this book from the time he was about 15 months old. The words and the illustrations are simple and catchy. I'm not sure if this one comes in paperback but I highly suggest getting all of the Barton books in the board book style. They are sure to be read over and over!!

This story was kind of boring, not as melodic as some of the other books (Cars is our favorite) but kind of cute. Graphics are somewhat boring too (compared to the others)

My kids love this very cute little book.. They want me to read it to them over and over again. A great book for your little one. Must have!!

I was a teacher in early childhood and I love to find new books for my grandson, who is almost 3. At the early level they need simple books both in text and pictures. The Barton books have a very simple text and great pictures and my grandson loves all of them. I always let him choose what books to read and Barton is his favorite since he was 1 1/2. I would recommend all of his books for young children ages 1 to 4. We have read Trucks, Trains, Men at Work, Planes, Airport & Dinosaurs.

Some concepts are not for the beginner. Let's you use your imagination to create outstanding layouts.

This is a great book on how to run and plan your next model railroad. Gives great idea's and samples of yards, train movements and point to point locations. Not just for beginers.

I don't think anyone in the model railroad hobby can say enough about the contributions of the late John Armstrong. His layout designs are masterpieces of getting the most out of a given space and working with the tradeoffs we all enevitably face. The book gives an overview of prototype operations and then goes into countless ideas and pointers for design and operation. I found the section on curve planning (p. 76), schematics (Chap. 8), and laying out an "easement" (p. 116) particularly useful. I recommend this to anyone planning a first layout or for anyone building a second layout after messing up their first. It is a good companion to "Classic Layout Designs," also by John Armstrong.

John Armstrong is one of the best known names to the model railroad hobby. He has written extensively but this book is his finest work.

A person interested in railroads finds himself caught up in lots of detailed scenes and complex trackwork. Armstrong explains what it all does and why it is arranged in the way it is. He does this by explaining railroad practice in the real world and then by looking at the problems faced by the modeler. He does so in a lucid and interesting manner...for the first half of the book.

While the first half of the book is dedicated to teaching about how railroads operate, the second is intended to teach how to model them effectively. He explains broad general concepts and then refines things and explains them in easy stages. He knows where the pitfalls are and he points out solutions.

This is a useful book for anyone from beginner to advanced but especially the beginner.

This book will teach you exactly what it claims. Numerous prototype examples are used throughout the book to give the reader an insight into how you can design a realistic track plan. This book has helped me to better understand why prototype railroads arranged track in certain ways. Excellent book, highly recommended.