Two Little Trains

Two Little Trains

by: Margaret Wise Brown

image-Harper Collins

When you need a break from Thomas and the Island of Sodor, "Two Little Trains" will satisfy your train hungry child and you'll get to enjoy the beatiful illustrations from Two-time Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon. The author, Margaret Wise Brown, is much better known for her book, "Goodnight Moon", which has never been as popular at our house as this one.

What little boy, and a number of little girls for that matter, doesn't love a good train book? Two trains, a shiny new steam liner and an old, toy train, both head west through the night. They puff and chug and encounter all kinds of adversity and finally make it to the West.

The parallel journeys are cleverly illustrated and repetitive phrasing is appealing to the younger set without being annoying for the adult reader. Each time we read this book it spurs some discussion, be it about rain, tunnels, cacti, or the "Black man singing in the West."

(One note, there is a reference to "a black man singing in the West." This brought up some good discussion at our house about the different colors that people can be, but reading some reviews on www.amazon.com it turned some people off.)

Recommended age: 3-6