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Freight Train #2
Inside Freight Train
In this special version of the Caldecott Honor classic, little hands can slide the doors to reveal the contents of each car, from apples, peaches, and pears in the refrigerated car all the way to caboose—which opens to show the train crew! In simple, powerful words and vibrant illustrations, Donald Crews evokes the rolling wheels of that childhood a train. This Caldecott Honor Book features bright colors and bold shapes. Even a child not lucky enough to have counted freight cars will feel he or she has watched a freight train passing after reading Freight Train . Donald Crews used childhood memories of trains seen during his travels to his grandparents' farm in the American South as the inspiration for this timeless favorite. Red caboose at the back, orange tank car, green cattle car, purple box car, black tender and a black steam engine . . . freight train.
12 pages, Board Book
First published January 1, 2001
1 person is currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Donald Crews
49 books49 followersDonald Crews (born August 30, 1938) is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. In 2015, the American Library Association (ALA) honored him with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, recognizing his lasting contribution to children's literature. Common subjects of his include modern technology (especially travel vehicles), and childhood memories. His stories often include few humans.
Two of his works were runners-up, or Caldecott Honor Books, for the ALA's annual award for picture book illustration, the Caldecott Medal.
Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1938. He had an older brother, Asa who became Beth Israel Hospital's first African-American intern, and two sisters. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father worked at the railroad, and several other odd jobs. For the summers he would travel down to rural Florida to stay with his grandmother, who he called "Bigmama". The difference between the big city and the farm caused him to create two, massively different types of art later on in his life.
From a young age, his talent for drawing was encouraged by his family and his teachers. When he got into high school, one of his teachers became a mentor to him, and personally made sure that he got into art school.
He graduated from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, and married another graduate, graphic artist Ann Jonas.
Crews was drafted into the army in 1963, and sent to Frankfurt, Germany. Their first daughter, Nina was born in Germany, and their second was born a year later in New York. Nina is also an award-winning children's book author.
While in Germany, he worked on several pieces for his portfolio, including the book We Read: A to Z (1967). After several suggestions from friends, he submitted it, and it was published by Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). The book relied on abstract ideas, rather than the clichés that were usually associated with ABC books. One classic example is the entry for the letter C: "Cc, corner: where the yellow is" is illustrated with a yellow square in the far corner of a red page in the book.
He created several other books over the next few years, but it was 1978's Freight Train that won him a Caldecott Honor and the respect of other artists in the field. He won another Caldecott Honor the next year for Truck. Several other transportation themed books followed, such as School Bus (1984), Flying (1986), and Sail Away (1995). His memories from his summers in Florida first appeared in Bigmama's and later in Shortcut. These stories are vastly different from his previous works, in that they focus on humans, and tell a more linear story.
Crews and his wife currently live in the state of New York in an old, restored farmhouse overlooking the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains.
Two of his works were runners-up, or Caldecott Honor Books, for the ALA's annual award for picture book illustration, the Caldecott Medal.
Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1938. He had an older brother, Asa who became Beth Israel Hospital's first African-American intern, and two sisters. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father worked at the railroad, and several other odd jobs. For the summers he would travel down to rural Florida to stay with his grandmother, who he called "Bigmama". The difference between the big city and the farm caused him to create two, massively different types of art later on in his life.
From a young age, his talent for drawing was encouraged by his family and his teachers. When he got into high school, one of his teachers became a mentor to him, and personally made sure that he got into art school.
He graduated from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, and married another graduate, graphic artist Ann Jonas.
Crews was drafted into the army in 1963, and sent to Frankfurt, Germany. Their first daughter, Nina was born in Germany, and their second was born a year later in New York. Nina is also an award-winning children's book author.
While in Germany, he worked on several pieces for his portfolio, including the book We Read: A to Z (1967). After several suggestions from friends, he submitted it, and it was published by Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). The book relied on abstract ideas, rather than the clichés that were usually associated with ABC books. One classic example is the entry for the letter C: "Cc, corner: where the yellow is" is illustrated with a yellow square in the far corner of a red page in the book.
He created several other books over the next few years, but it was 1978's Freight Train that won him a Caldecott Honor and the respect of other artists in the field. He won another Caldecott Honor the next year for Truck. Several other transportation themed books followed, such as School Bus (1984), Flying (1986), and Sail Away (1995). His memories from his summers in Florida first appeared in Bigmama's and later in Shortcut. These stories are vastly different from his previous works, in that they focus on humans, and tell a more linear story.
Crews and his wife currently live in the state of New York in an old, restored farmhouse overlooking the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 15, 2023
#1547 in our old book database. My rating: Indifferent. Adelia's rating: Good
I love the mechanism that allows the train cars to open up and reveal their contents, but the words and pictures are just too generic for me.
I love the mechanism that allows the train cars to open up and reveal their contents, but the words and pictures are just too generic for me.
February 17, 2019
In this companion to Freight Train, Inside Freight Train provides the opportunity for children to "see" inside the cars. What's inside a box car? Slide it open and see toys and books. What's inside a cattle car? Calves and cows. This sliding board book will delight birth-6 Donald Crews and train fans alike.
October 23, 2017
Taking the classic, award-winning, book, FREIGHT TRAIN to the next level. In this interactive version, the reader gets to open the door of the cars and see what is inside. I read it with a preschooler today. He loved it so much, he didn't want to put it down.
March 17, 2021
Another good one to use for a train story time! Pair it with Freight train!
June 11, 2021
I really like this because of the taps that kids can pull.
July 16, 2021
Me: feels dated and bland in cargo choices and illustrations lacking the minimalist cool of the original
Alex: I can open and close the doors!
Owen: TRAINS!!!!
Alex: I can open and close the doors!
Owen: TRAINS!!!!
August 5, 2022
My son loves this book.
March 21, 2010
This is a neat book, in that it has a actual names of freight cars and what they carry. Not only is this great for the train loving toddler, with train loving grandparents to share it with, it's also great for parents who aren't as familiar and will be talking about trains with a train loving kid. The slide flaps are pretty neat and seem pretty durable.
An update:
Sadly while she was reading by herself, she popped the pages apart. We haven't tried getting them back together. Looks doable.
An update:
Sadly while she was reading by herself, she popped the pages apart. We haven't tried getting them back together. Looks doable.
September 14, 2011
This book is one that many young kids would enjoy- especially young boys, seeing as they tend to love trains. The sliding pages make it much more fun to read to see what's inside of each of the carts. It's a simple way of showing kids what trains carry to understand more of how things work. Books such as this which are pop up, or sliding, or anything else make it that much more exciting for the child to read and catch their interest.
December 9, 2008
This book is similar to Freight train but here you get to slide the doors open and see what's inside. We owned this book for a few months and by then it was pulled to pieces. I guess that means they liked it a lot!
Like Freight Train the colors are bright and the illustrations simple.
Very much worth checking out.
Like Freight Train the colors are bright and the illustrations simple.
Very much worth checking out.
August 9, 2016
Great fun. You get to slide open each page to see what is inside the freight car. Unfortunately, after much use our book has kind of fallen to bits. It was great fun while it lasted. And it did last through many readings--likely hundreds. If you have a young child you might want to watch them with this book so they don't get wild with it and pull it to pieces.
July 7, 2015
A big hit with toddlers that like trains the only negative the sliders can get stuck and of course then there is a lot of frustration. Even my 5 1/2 year old complains that she can't get them closed. But my two year old never tires of this book. Te only thing he would change would be to make ALL the pages slide open.
December 23, 2009
I read this book with my son when he was 3 and he was fascinated by the sliding pages. He tried to slide every page and was frustrated when he discovered they all didn't slide. Overall though, he really liked the book and it has become one of his favorites to read by himself.
July 7, 2009
Read and played with this one so much we wore out all the cars. Definitely a favorite!
August 10, 2011
Kiddo loves it
September 8, 2011
My boys have both loved expanding and contracting the pages to show what's in the train cars.
April 23, 2012
Good book to use if studying types of transportation. The book simply describes the differnt types of carts on a train and what they can be sued for.
February 3, 2016
A new train book! By the author of the one I LOVED when I was little. How fun!
October 18, 2012
Wonderful book about freight trains and what they carry. the sliding pages would be a huge hit with kindergarteners and preschoolers. Includes colors with each descriptive page.
October 24, 2012
Storytime - Trains!
April 17, 2016
This is a board book with pages that slide over to open the boxcars to show what is inside them. A cute idea for children who are curious.
June 25, 2016
Sliding pages that reveal what each train car is carrying.
March 17, 2015
Cute book to talk about freight trains. Children loved the sliding pages.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews