Tea & A Book Brewing- Installment 35, Train Books & Trips for Children
Most children's ears will perk up at the mention of the word TRAIN! Or at least that's the case for three out of three of my children, and by what I've observed, they're not alone!
I am not sure what it is about these hulking machines and their whistles, but trains can turn grown men back into children like nothing else, while at the same time turning children into dreamers with visions of someday being the engineer behind the throttle.
We recently went on a little scenic train ride in Walkersville, MD, and the idea came to me today, while I was at the library trying to decide which children's books to review, that I could tell you about that trip while at the same time reviewing some favorite children's train books.
Two birds. One stone. Perfect.
Our family was accompanied on our ride on the Walkersville Southern Railroad by Wesley's sister, Elizabeth, her husband Andre. their two children, Pierre & Helen, and Andre's sister, Heather. One seven-year-old, two four-years-olds and two-two-year-olds kept it interesting for all of us, but they had a grand time!
Elasa is not fond of loud sounds and was quite prepared to ride the entire distance with her hands over her ears if need be, but thankfully we were in a passenger car and could barely hear the whistle, so she was saved that particular misery! The other children probably felt that the louder the things were, the better, but I am sure they made up for any lack on the whistle's behalf!
The train ride itself was a little over an hour in length. We went one direction, stopped briefly, and then went back to the station without disembarking any passengers. For those of you who care about such things, the engine was a small diesel engine that had to be shifted manually! Every time the engine had to shift. the whole train would give a terrific jolt, which ended up being one of the more memorable parts of the ride and it was best to be seated when these jolts occurred!
After our train ride we drove to a nearby park for a picnic. The day was quite hot, but thankfully the park had shade and between that and being able to make use of a pavilion, it was bearable.
Once we had eaten and enjoyed the park for awhile, we headed back to the little train museum at the train station. They had a nice assortment of train paraphernalia to look at, a small model train that was running, and a corner well supplied with wooden trains and train books for children. While the museum wasn't large or modern by any means, since admission was included in the train tickets, it was worth poking around in.
Our family hasn't necessarily set out with a goal to ride every train out there, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that we have gone on quite a few since we were married! I guess it goes back to this thing of everyone liking a good train ride now and then!!!
When we took our trip to Cape Cod when Elasa was not yet two, we took a train ride on the Cape Cod Central Railroad. The trip was fairly long, but quite pleasant and I remember being fascinated by the cranberry bogs! That was certainly not something I had ever seen before!
On another occasion, my whole family rode the East Broad Top Railroad, near Orbisonia. PA. in honor of my dad's birthday. Gavin was less than a month old at the time, and was quite content during the ride, which just goes to show that this love of trains starts very young! Sadly, the train no longer runs, but it sure was a grand old steam engine, with all the smoke and loud whistles to go with it- much to Elasa's chagrin!
In a slightly different genre, but still a train ride none-the-less, Wesley & I took Amtrak from Harrisburg to Philadelphia for our fourth anniversary! The trip was about three hours one way and I really enjoyed that mode of travel since we could relax & enjoy the scenery without the hassle of driving & parking in the city. We had Gavin along, who was not quite four months, so it was also nice to be able to hold him during the trip instead of him being confined to a car seat. Someday I would like to take the children on Amtrak for a longer trip than they're going to get on a tourist train, but unlike one of my friends who takes her children on Amtrak to visit her mother in Indiana, I don't have a very good excuse or destination! Maybe someday...
Strasburg Railroad has been a perennial favorite, you could say! I have taken this particular train ride and least 4 or 5 times, and two of those times have been with my own children! The first time I was there with Wesley when we chaperoned a field trip of 1-3 graders planned by my parents! Elasa was two-and-a-half and I was expecting Gavin, so I just realized again that counting the time before he was born, Gavin was really on a special train ride three times by the time he was 4 months old! No wonder he likes trains!!!
This railroad is noteworthy for it's beautifully refurbished engines and coaches, and I like the fact that you can take the train to a picnic spot and then have the train pick you back up on it's next round.
Five years ago:
One year ago (which I also wrote about in this post!):
.
One of the fascinating things about train rides, beit Amtrak or more scenic routes, is that you get to see all kinds of things you normally would not see from the road! It tends to be a lot of backyards, factory yards and scenery that just isn't visible by other modes of transportation, and I think that makes them extra neat!
Since many scenic train rides are on restored trains, it's also a good way to go back in time. I always have to remember Mary and Laura on their first train ride (in By the Shores of Silver Lake) where they thought that a train going 20-some- miles- per-hour was so breathtakingly FAST!!! Now these very trains feel slow to us, and yet they still have not lost the power to impress!
And now for the books!
Aside from books about construction vehicles and fire trucks, train books have probably been about the most popular in our house! The list I have is certainly not extensive, but rather a few that have crossed our threshold and are noteworthy in one way or another.
No children's book review on children's train books would ever be complete without this fabulous selection: Freight Train, by Donald Crews. I love this book for it's color and simplicity, and for how the author/illustrator blurs the colors of the train when it is speeding along to make it look like it really is going quite fast! If you want an added bonus, the book also teaches colors as it tells about the yellow hopper car, purple box car, and of course, the red caboose! The book is a great introduction to trains for toddlers, and, I might add, a lot of fun for the adults reading to them!
The book How to Train a Train, written by Jason Carter Eaton and illustrated by John Rocco, was wildly popular when it was first brought into our house! The makers of this book had quite the imagination, and the story is all about how to catch and train a train just as you would a pet! I think the fact that the book is so fanciful makes it all the more appealing to children! Who ever heard of going out on the open plains and catching a train with a lasso so that you can bring it home with you? Or playing with your new train in the swimming pool? Not going to happen in real life, but that's the wonderful things about books: anything is possible...even training a train!!!
I like books that are read aloud with a lilt in your voice voice and plenty of sound effects, and Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo, written by Kevin Lewis and illustrated by Daniel Kirk, is good for both! Full of rhyme and color, this is a book in which the train is a toy and all the characters and scenery around the train are toys, and we follow the train from sun-up to sun-down. At the very end, however, you get a glimpse of the real engineer: a little boy tucked into bed and still clutching his beloved train.
If you're looking for a great book with wonderful pictures, lots of historical facts about how train tracks first spread across the country, and glimpses of a mother & her two children making their way out west to join their husband and father in starting a new life in California, then Locomotive, by Brian Floca, is the one for you! There is a lot of reading in this book, but it's not hard to skip around a bit to satisfy the younger reader, and the older readers who are interested in trains might enjoy all the interesting facts woven into the story! The pictures are fabulous and full of details, and the whole layout and feel of the book are just really, really impressive!
The allure of trains is found in the sense of adventure that surrounds them. Trains go places, and we go with them, whether through the pages of a book or by jolting along on the seats.
All aboard?
I am not sure what it is about these hulking machines and their whistles, but trains can turn grown men back into children like nothing else, while at the same time turning children into dreamers with visions of someday being the engineer behind the throttle.
We recently went on a little scenic train ride in Walkersville, MD, and the idea came to me today, while I was at the library trying to decide which children's books to review, that I could tell you about that trip while at the same time reviewing some favorite children's train books.
Two birds. One stone. Perfect.
Our family was accompanied on our ride on the Walkersville Southern Railroad by Wesley's sister, Elizabeth, her husband Andre. their two children, Pierre & Helen, and Andre's sister, Heather. One seven-year-old, two four-years-olds and two-two-year-olds kept it interesting for all of us, but they had a grand time!
Elasa is not fond of loud sounds and was quite prepared to ride the entire distance with her hands over her ears if need be, but thankfully we were in a passenger car and could barely hear the whistle, so she was saved that particular misery! The other children probably felt that the louder the things were, the better, but I am sure they made up for any lack on the whistle's behalf!
The train ride itself was a little over an hour in length. We went one direction, stopped briefly, and then went back to the station without disembarking any passengers. For those of you who care about such things, the engine was a small diesel engine that had to be shifted manually! Every time the engine had to shift. the whole train would give a terrific jolt, which ended up being one of the more memorable parts of the ride and it was best to be seated when these jolts occurred!
After our train ride we drove to a nearby park for a picnic. The day was quite hot, but thankfully the park had shade and between that and being able to make use of a pavilion, it was bearable.
Once we had eaten and enjoyed the park for awhile, we headed back to the little train museum at the train station. They had a nice assortment of train paraphernalia to look at, a small model train that was running, and a corner well supplied with wooden trains and train books for children. While the museum wasn't large or modern by any means, since admission was included in the train tickets, it was worth poking around in.
Our family hasn't necessarily set out with a goal to ride every train out there, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that we have gone on quite a few since we were married! I guess it goes back to this thing of everyone liking a good train ride now and then!!!
When we took our trip to Cape Cod when Elasa was not yet two, we took a train ride on the Cape Cod Central Railroad. The trip was fairly long, but quite pleasant and I remember being fascinated by the cranberry bogs! That was certainly not something I had ever seen before!
On another occasion, my whole family rode the East Broad Top Railroad, near Orbisonia. PA. in honor of my dad's birthday. Gavin was less than a month old at the time, and was quite content during the ride, which just goes to show that this love of trains starts very young! Sadly, the train no longer runs, but it sure was a grand old steam engine, with all the smoke and loud whistles to go with it- much to Elasa's chagrin!
In a slightly different genre, but still a train ride none-the-less, Wesley & I took Amtrak from Harrisburg to Philadelphia for our fourth anniversary! The trip was about three hours one way and I really enjoyed that mode of travel since we could relax & enjoy the scenery without the hassle of driving & parking in the city. We had Gavin along, who was not quite four months, so it was also nice to be able to hold him during the trip instead of him being confined to a car seat. Someday I would like to take the children on Amtrak for a longer trip than they're going to get on a tourist train, but unlike one of my friends who takes her children on Amtrak to visit her mother in Indiana, I don't have a very good excuse or destination! Maybe someday...
Strasburg Railroad has been a perennial favorite, you could say! I have taken this particular train ride and least 4 or 5 times, and two of those times have been with my own children! The first time I was there with Wesley when we chaperoned a field trip of 1-3 graders planned by my parents! Elasa was two-and-a-half and I was expecting Gavin, so I just realized again that counting the time before he was born, Gavin was really on a special train ride three times by the time he was 4 months old! No wonder he likes trains!!!
This railroad is noteworthy for it's beautifully refurbished engines and coaches, and I like the fact that you can take the train to a picnic spot and then have the train pick you back up on it's next round.
Five years ago:
One year ago (which I also wrote about in this post!):
One of the fascinating things about train rides, beit Amtrak or more scenic routes, is that you get to see all kinds of things you normally would not see from the road! It tends to be a lot of backyards, factory yards and scenery that just isn't visible by other modes of transportation, and I think that makes them extra neat!
Since many scenic train rides are on restored trains, it's also a good way to go back in time. I always have to remember Mary and Laura on their first train ride (in By the Shores of Silver Lake) where they thought that a train going 20-some- miles- per-hour was so breathtakingly FAST!!! Now these very trains feel slow to us, and yet they still have not lost the power to impress!
And now for the books!
Aside from books about construction vehicles and fire trucks, train books have probably been about the most popular in our house! The list I have is certainly not extensive, but rather a few that have crossed our threshold and are noteworthy in one way or another.
No children's book review on children's train books would ever be complete without this fabulous selection: Freight Train, by Donald Crews. I love this book for it's color and simplicity, and for how the author/illustrator blurs the colors of the train when it is speeding along to make it look like it really is going quite fast! If you want an added bonus, the book also teaches colors as it tells about the yellow hopper car, purple box car, and of course, the red caboose! The book is a great introduction to trains for toddlers, and, I might add, a lot of fun for the adults reading to them!
The book How to Train a Train, written by Jason Carter Eaton and illustrated by John Rocco, was wildly popular when it was first brought into our house! The makers of this book had quite the imagination, and the story is all about how to catch and train a train just as you would a pet! I think the fact that the book is so fanciful makes it all the more appealing to children! Who ever heard of going out on the open plains and catching a train with a lasso so that you can bring it home with you? Or playing with your new train in the swimming pool? Not going to happen in real life, but that's the wonderful things about books: anything is possible...even training a train!!!
I like books that are read aloud with a lilt in your voice voice and plenty of sound effects, and Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo, written by Kevin Lewis and illustrated by Daniel Kirk, is good for both! Full of rhyme and color, this is a book in which the train is a toy and all the characters and scenery around the train are toys, and we follow the train from sun-up to sun-down. At the very end, however, you get a glimpse of the real engineer: a little boy tucked into bed and still clutching his beloved train.
If you're looking for a great book with wonderful pictures, lots of historical facts about how train tracks first spread across the country, and glimpses of a mother & her two children making their way out west to join their husband and father in starting a new life in California, then Locomotive, by Brian Floca, is the one for you! There is a lot of reading in this book, but it's not hard to skip around a bit to satisfy the younger reader, and the older readers who are interested in trains might enjoy all the interesting facts woven into the story! The pictures are fabulous and full of details, and the whole layout and feel of the book are just really, really impressive!
The allure of trains is found in the sense of adventure that surrounds them. Trains go places, and we go with them, whether through the pages of a book or by jolting along on the seats.
All aboard?
The only book on this list that I was familiar with was Locomotive (which we loved.) So I'm adding a few more to my list.
ReplyDeleteA favorite at our house is The Little Red Train Storybook by Benedict Blathwayt. I love the detailed drawings and the European flair.
Gina