This week's theme, trains. I asked the librarian in the children's reading room to give us some suggestions for books about trains, and, boy, did she come through. We came home with about six train books, as well as a book on fire trucks and one about a garbage truck. Of course the garbage truck book is Eleanor's favorite, despite her recent fascination with trains! So, here are our reviews:
1. I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullan
This is the garbage truck book. We had checked out another book by the McMullan duo, I'm Dirty, about a backhoe a while back which Eleanor also really liked, so we decided to try this one too. The illustrations give a whole bunch of personality to these machines -- we'll have to see what other titles they have available. After reading I Stink a couple of times, Eleanor is able to read it to herself. She goes through the pages and picks out one or two words from the actual text and repeats them to herself or to the person she is reading to. She especially likes the page where the truck backs up to dump out the load -- she practically sings, "Hey beep beep beep, hey beep beep beep" and then "Plop!".
2. Train Song by Diane Siebert, paintings by Mike Wimmer
The paintings in this book are exquisite and the text is a simple poem/song that sounds lovely when read aloud. It might be a bit advanced for Eleanor at this point but I really like this book. And, she does like looking at the pictures.
3. The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet
This is the story of Katy caboose, a cute little red caboose, who is a bit sad to be all the way at the end of the train. She longs to live a quiet, calm little life with fresh air and be done with all noise, smoke and frightening things she encounters along the tracks. I won't spoil the ending, but this book is really sweet and definitely worth a read. It is long though, probably better for a child a bit older than Eleanor. We have been abbreviating the text on each page so that she enjoys it a bit more but we miss out on the nice rhymes that way. We will have to check it out again in a few months.
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1 comment:
I picked up the Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet when my oldest turned two based on my fond memories.
I noted that, while throughout the whole book it is in verse, the edition I have appears to be missing the second to last line on the last page. There is a blank space between the last two lines where I would expect to find more verse and the very last line does not rhyme with the previous one.
Do you have any idea what was written in that missing line?
Robert
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