Thursday, January 9, 2014

Train Book Alert: "Train" by Elisha Cooper

When I head to the library, my Senior Engineer almost always asks for train books to be brought home. We were both delighted to discover the new picture book Train by Elisha Cooper. With lilting illustrations and flowing narration, Train depicts the journey of several kinds of trains across the country. It was a special treat to find the Passenger Train "thundering into ... the outskirts of a midwestern city filled with smokestacks and factories and belching steam." Even the youngest Chicagoan, or suburban visitor, will see a skyline filled with very familiar skyscrapers. That real-life inspiration for the scenes on these pages extends to the rolling stock on every page. Images of Amtrak and Union Pacific engines, as well as cargo cars branded with recognizable names (CSX, Norfolk Southern, ADM, Hanjin), fills this picture book with enough detail to appeal to the maturing young reader, as well as their younger siblings. Those older readers, or parents of any question-asking train fan, will appreciate the glossary and notes with more than a dozen railroad terms explained. 

Find Train at libraries and bookstores



4 comments:

  1. When my kids were little, I had one that was all about heavy construction equipment, and the other who was all about trains. We hit the height of train- mania the year we moved to Chicago from the deep south, so if this book would have been around then, I cannot imagine how exciting it would have been for my engineer-in-training!

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    1. I have my train lover and a truck lover, too!

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  2. My kiddos LOVE books. What a neat find! We'll need to check it out at the library. I would likely have never picked it up had it not been for your review - I once needed to ride the Metra for over an hour one way to work everyday. I became so sick of trains I likely would've passed this book up! Thanks for the recommendation!

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    1. I love sharing good book ideas! If your kids like trains, you'll be amazed at how many books are out there for all ages. Happy reading!

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