Image: Candlewick Press / Penguin Random House · source
Candlewick · Mid-range
A 48-page hardcover picture book by Jason Carter Eaton, illustrated by John Rocco, written as a humorous guide to finding, keeping and training a pet train.
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We have not tested it ourselves: strengths and weaknesses below come from the tests cited.
The publisher sets out the premise this way: advice on caring for a dog, a cat or a fish is out there, but what about people whose taste in pets runs to the mechanical kind? The description promises where trains live, what they like to eat and the best train tricks around. An excerpt attributed to The Washington Post on the publisher's page adds examples of the book's advice: freight trains move in herds and monorails alone, and big nets and quicksand can trap them, though smoke signals work best. A line attributed to Publishers Weekly calls it an immersive experience for junior rail fans. These are press excerpts reproduced by the publisher, not our own judgement.
This is a picture book for the home, not a trackside companion. The publisher lists a 48-page hardcover for ages 4 to 8, in a Preschool to Grade 3 range. Its press excerpts describe the text as conversational and the illustrations as digitally colored. The publisher's page offers a Look Inside preview, so a parent can check the style before buying. In the publisher's description the trains are kept and trained like pets, so the book is a comic story rather than an account of how real railroads work.
Strengths
Weaknesses
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Pages | 48 |
| Author | Jason Carter Eaton |
| Format | Hardcover |
| ISBN-13 | 9780763663070 |
| Age range | 4-8 years |
| Publisher | Candlewick |
| Grade range | Preschool - 3 |
| Illustrator | John Rocco |
A parent, grandparent or relative giving a picture book to a child between four and eight who likes trains and humor. It also suits an adult who wants a train book that is funny rather than factual. A buyer who wants real locomotive facts for the same child should add the National Geographic Kids reader described below.
Tootle, the hardcover Little Golden Book by Gertrude Crampton, is a shorter story of 24 pages for ages 3 to 7 about a young locomotive learning to stay on the tracks. Trains, from the National Geographic Kids Readers series at Level 1, is a 32-page paperback of facts for ages 4 to 6, for a child who wants real trains rather than pet ones.
Image: National Geographic (Penguin Random House) · source
National Geographic · Mid-range
A National Geographic hardcover that profiles 100 railway journeys around the world, with notes on when and where to go, which cabins to book and what to see off the train.
Image: Lorenz Books / Simon & Schuster · source
Lorenz Books · Mid-range
A hardcover guide to the golden age of train engines by Colin Garratt, with 700 photographs covering the first designs to modern high-speed trains.
Image: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers · source
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers · Budget
A board book by Kevin Lewis, with pictures by Daniel Kirk, that follows a busy toy steam locomotive through a playroom from sunrise until all its freight has been delivered.
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Compare all railway books.
