The Big Book of Trains
Common Sense Note
Gorgeous photographs and the bonus of unusual or little-known trains will beckon kids. A good balance of need-to-know facts and astounding tidbits will keep older readers (including parents) interested.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Katherine Olney
What better way to convey in a book the majesty of a train than a huge 13-inch-by-10-inch photo of one? Even readers who aren't train buffs will enjoy examining these pictures over and over again. As one fifth-grader put it, "You can see the details so much better," and that reader also loved the record breakers--the longest and fastest trains and the mind-boggling train of the future. She even wished there were more facts about how each train worked, as well as a few interior or cut-out pictures, though she's above the book's targeted age range.
Or was she? The size of the photographs and the book itself are especially appropriate for kids seven or under ("Wow!" and "Cool!" were the dominant reactions during a kindergarten-classroom reading), but older children are more likely to enjoy the text details. This gives this picture book a longer life span.
For older kids, a few questions yearn to be answered in the next printing. The section on monorail trains mentions that most have only two cars, but one child immediately asked why that was true. Another wanted to know whether most steam trains ran on both steam and coal, or just coal, after the text pointed out that both configurations existed.
But these are minor quibbles -- overall, this is a great book foe curious kids.
From The Book
By the 1940's, engineers were designing bigger and more powerful steam engines to pull heavy freight trains at higher speeds. These huge locomotives often had two sets of cylinders and driving wheels under one very large boiler. They were called articulated engines because the driving wheels could pivot under the boiler to travel around tight curves.
Plot Summary:
Huge photographs, a big-book format, and some of the most powerful or unusual trains to be found will draw young railroad buffs--and reluctant readers--into the realm of the locomotive. There's a lot covered here: record-breaking engines, workhorse locomotives, and trains of the future; electric, diesel, and steam varieties; and a grab bag of facts and figures.
Related Books:
For in-depth cross-sections, interiors, and more details on how trains work, check out John Richards's Trains (Cutaway) and Michael Johnstone's Look Inside Cross-Sections: Trains, for younger and older kids respectively.
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