13th May Train Day

I have written about books for train lovers before but it was back in 2017 and now I have a whole new lot of train enthusiasts looking for books in the library. What is it about trains and young boys? Yes in my library it is boys. Of course any book about Thomas the Tank Engine and The Little Red Train by Benedict Blathwayt are still popular, but I thought I'd look at some other favourites and just how long trains have been a fascination for young children.

Picture books about trains for children have existed for quite some time, when you consider that the Little Golden Books: The Little Engine That Could (1930) by Watty Piper, Tootle (1945) by Gertrude Crampton, The Train to Timbuctoo (1951) by Margaret Wise Brown and The Little Red Caboose (1953) by Marian Potter have existed for so long and are still in print. 

Cherished by readers for over ninety years, The Little Engine That Could is a classic tale of a little engine who, despite her size, triumphantly pulls a train full of wonderful things to the children waiting on the other side of a mountain. The repetitive refrain hooks in very young readers and keeps them eager to continue. Many versions of this story now exist. It has been reillustrated, abridged and even made into a movie.

Watty Piper is the pseudonym for Arnold Munk, the author behind the classic retelling of The Little Engine That Could and cofounder of Platt & Munk Publishers (now part of Grosset & Dunlap.) Munk's retelling of the beloved children's tale has sold millions of copies since its 1930 publication and inspired generations to believe they can. As of 2001, Tootle was the all-time third best-selling hardcover children's book in English. All of this certainly confirms that trains are a popular topic for young children's books and reading!

Other 'oldies' are Choo Choo: The Story of a Little Engine Who Ran Away (1937)   by Virginia Lee Burton, The Little Train (1940) by Lois Lenski, Two Little Trains (1949)  by Margaret Wise Brown and Leo and Diane Dillon, 1,2,3 To the Zoo (1968) by Eric Carle, The Caboose Who Got Loose (1971) by Bill Peet and The Little Train (1974) by  Graham Greene and Edward Ardizzone and Freight Train (1978) by Donald Crews.

The six stories by Benedict Blathwayt about The Little Red Train  and his driver Duffy continue to amuse even me when I get to read any of them aloud. Huffitty-chuffitty . . . huffitty-chuffitty . . . huffitty-chuffitty puff" went the smoke from the Little Red Train's funnel. Chuff-chuff, chuffity chuff, whoo. . . oo. . oo! There's plenty of train noise to make.

I can just remember steam trains. I have memories of standing on the bridge over the railway line in the country town I grew up in, listening to the loud noise and getting covered in smelly smoke. This memory is front of mind when I share Charlotte Voake's Here Comes the Train with children. I do like steam trains and many of the trains depicted in children's picture books are steam trains still, despite the fact that most children nowadays are unlikely to have seen one unless their family has taken them to a museum or rail open day.

These children's books that are popular have steam trains involved in the adventure:

• Steam Train Dream Train  by Sherry Duskey Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld

• Oi! Get Off My Train  by John Burningham

• Down By the Station  by Will Hillenbrand

• The Cat, the Mouse and the Runaway Train  by Peter Bently & Steve Cox

• How to Train a Train  by Jason Carter Eaton & John Rocco

See the covers of these books here on Pinterest.

It is the sounds that trains make on the tracks that often provide a rhythm for the story and a myriad of opportunities for onomatopoeia. That's why poems such as  A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track  and Philip Booth's Crossing remain. There is an illustrated version of Crossing. It was Bagram Ibatoulline's first foray into illustration and although it is quite American it is a beautiful book.

Here in Australia, train journeys can be very long. The trips that take days like The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, and the trip on The Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth via the Nullarbor Plain still seem to excite tourists enough to pay the large fares. They are historical railway journeys and because trains have featured in the history of remote Australia there are picture books that celebrate them:

• The Shop Train by Josie Wowolla Boyle & Paul Seden

• Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly & Robert Ingpen

• Bob the Railway Dog by Corinne Fenton & Andrew McLean

Of course there are other avenues to explore. There is all the wonderful nonfiction information books. There are subways, stations, station masters, everything related to trains to explore ...

30th August Virginia Lee Burton (1909 - 1968) Donald Crews (1938) Ariane Dewey

Virginia Lee Burton is the author of classics such as Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, and Katy and the Big Snow, two stories written for her own boys who loved machines and The Little House which won the 1943 Caldecott Medal. Her books which have all had their 60th anniversary depict friendship, loyalty and hard work at the same time as a sense of nostalgia. For children today they may appear unexciting visually when compared to what they are used to, but when read they are more enamoured and they do have a place in the history of picture books which students can be fascinated by if the teacher is well-informed and passionate about the topic.

Donald Crews books are almost the antithesis of Virginia Lee Burton's. They are bold, colourful, often textless or have minimal text and include significant paper engineering. They are concept or information books for the very young. I knew little about Donald Crews but having done some quick research, I am pleased to see that he is married to illustrator Ann Jonas and is the father of Nina Crews. What a children's book family that is! His Freight Train won the 1979 Caldecott Medal and he went on then to do other books about modes of transport. I particularly like Ten Black Dots.

Ariane Dewey is an illustrator with Jose Aruego of many children's books. She says that Jose draws the lines and then she is the 'colour expert'. She has written and illustrated books on her own, but she is best known for books that she has worked on with others. The collection of poems about penguins called Antarctic Antics is well read in my library and many of the preschool parents borrow Milton the Early Riser. Like The Littlest Wolf which features on her website, many of her books feature animals as the main characters and use bright colours.