Title: The Little Engine that Could
Author: Watty Piper
Artist: George and Doris Hauman
Genre: Toys / Travel / Perseverance / Classic
Year Published: 1930
Year Read: 2017
Series: The Little Engine that Could #1
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 3+ (Nothing Objectionable)
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
Now I have a bit of a confession to make: I actually was introduced to this classic
children’s story through an animated special that premiered on TV way back in
the early 1990s and I have only just recently decided to pick up the book that
the animated special was based off of. “The Little Engine that Could” by Watty Piper along with artwork by George and Doris Hauman is truly a cute
classic that children will read for years to come!
The story starts off with a little train carrying good
things for the little boys and girls on the other side of the mountain such as
teddy bears, dolls, books for the children to play with. The little train also carried good food for
the children to eat such as apples, oranges, milk and peppermint drops. Just as the little train was heading towards
the mountains with all of these good things for the little boys and girls, it
suddenly stopped on the train tracks and it could not budge. The toys then began to lament this
predicament and they tried to receive help from various trains that stopped by.
Unfortunately, none of the trains wanted
anything to do with taking the toys to the other side of the mountain and they
just left the toys on the side of the tracks.
Finally, a little blue engine came along and…
Will
the little blue engine help the toys get to their destination and will the toys
make it over the mountain in time to give the little girls and boys their
gifts?
Read
this book to find out!
Watty
Piper (which is actually a pseudonym for the Platt &
Munk Publishing House) had done an excellent job
at writing this cute little story as it details the importance of perseverance
through the actions of the little blue engine as she tries to get the toys to
their destination despite being so small.
I like the fact that this story teaches children about the importance of
never giving up in the face of a difficult situation and that they just need to
do the best they can when they are dealing with situations that might be
impossible for them. I also like the
idea about the story being mainly about the toys and the train trying to get to
the other side of the mountain to deliver toys and food to the little boys and
girls since it reminds me a bit of how Santa Claus usually has to deliver toys
and goodies to many children of the world, except in this case, this story does
not take place during Christmas. George and Doris Hauman’s artwork is
truly adorable to look at as all the toys are so cute to look at and I
especially loved the image of the little engine herself as she is colored in
blue, which is quite a unique color for a train, and she constantly has a smile
on her face that makes me root for her.
The reason why I gave this book a four-star rating is
because I felt that the pacing for this story was a bit slow and I wished that
they trimmed off a bit of the toys’ conversations with the trains in order to
get to the main point of the story.
Overall, “The
Little Engine that Could” is a cute story about the importance of perseverance
in the face of hardship that children will easily relate to! I would recommend this book to children ages
three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.
* 1958 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
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