Railroad Hank

by Lisa Moser, Benji Davies (Illustrations)

Railroad Hank is headed up the mountain in his fine little train to see Granny Bett. She's feeling kind of blue. Along the way, he stops to talk to Missy May, Country Carl, Cinnamon Cobbler, and Reel-'Em-In Sam. Each friend offers up something to cheer Granny Bett, but Hank has bigger ideas. By the time he reaches the mountaintop, his train is bursting with crazy cargo! And Granny Bett has a great idea for what to do with it all.

Genres: Picture Books, Trains, Storytime, Childrens, Transport, Humor, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Lisa Moser grew up in the small town of Fairfield, Iowa. "I had a wonderful childhood," says Lisa. "I lived in a neighborhood where lemonade stands were a day's event, the boundaries for hide-and-go-seek were the entire block, and you knew it was time to come home when the streetlights came on."


About this time, Lisa was inspired by her grandma to become a writer. "My grandma and grandpa lived in Florida, and we would write letters every week. But on some golden days, some treasure days, I would go to the mailbox and find a story from my grandma. She'd write the stories, draw the pictures, and bind them up with bright yarn. Reading those stories, my own dream of becoming a children's author began."


Lisa went on to attend The University of Iowa and graduated with a degree in elementary education. After getting married, she moved to Worthington, Ohio where she happily taught reading, writing, and other subjects to fifth graders. Lisa is proud to say that she was never beaten in a footrace by any of her students, although she only raced them once. Wisely, she retired a champion.


When Lisa and her husband moved to Wisconsin and had their daughter, Lydia, Lisa became a stay-at-home mom and pursued her childhood dream of writing.

Reviews

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ridiculous, but sweet and funny.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goofy fun in a solidly-constructed story with engaging illustrations. I am edging it up to four stars for:

1) The sweet & simple just-right first line, "Railroad Hank and his fine little train rolled down the track."

2) The names in the story: Happy Flap Farm, Granny Bett, Cinnamon Cobbler

3) The alarmed cows being carried to the train

4) A knitting hen, the hoedown-ing chicks, and the happy frog peeking out of the barrel

5) A good ending

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humourous book about Hank, a train conductor who meets several people on his way to cheer up Granny Bett. Chugga chugga Whoo Whoo, this book has great lyricism and would make a great read aloud story for library or bedtime stories.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will be a fun read aloud. I would definitely pair it with Pete Seeger's"The Foolish Frog".

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think Amelia Bedelia - only male.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+ stars.

Silly and innocent humor. Good alliteration and phrase repetition for kids to get the hang of, and clear storyline with some silly humor. The art is OK, nothing spectacular, but still clear enough for a storytime audience. For a one-on-one read, there are some fun details in the pictures to get some giggles too.

I got a lot of giggles from my older storytime crowd with this one. And some enthusiastic sound effects with the audience participation too (lots of opportunity for train noises). It's a good one for train themed storytimes, and I'd pull it out for friendship too.

[April Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our kids loved the goofiness of Railroad Hank so much, our entire family had to dress as characters from the book for Halloween one year. It was the absolute best! This story is best read by giving the characters country/Southern accents and creating your own bluegrass song on the page where they dance. Guaranteed to make your young kiddos laugh!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny story children will enjoy. Railroad Hank is driving his train up the tracks to visit Granny Bett, whom he heard was feeling blue. Along the way he stops to tell friends, and each had a way to cheer her up. The problem is that Hank didn't fully understand what they wanted him to take to her and it got a bit mixed up. Funny problem with a happy ending. Fun illustrations.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hank has a little train and due to his misunderstanding, gathers various people's animals and goods on his way to visit Granny Bett and cheer her up. Everyone ends up chasing the train, and the chaos that ensues at Granny Bett's makes her laugh and puts her in a good mood.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Railroad Hank takes his little train up the mountain to visit Granny Bett, who isn't feeling well. On his way up, Railroad Hankstops at several farms where he is offered items to take to Granny Bett. This humorous tale of miscommunication leads to fun for everyone involved.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think slightly older kids who still have stories read to them would like this- it is silly in a way they might like.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is darling. The illustrations are lovely and have a different color palette than many books these days.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so funny. Hank was a little confused, but had good intentions. We made predictions about what would happen next.

[Stephen Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daycare students love this humorous book. It’s a lot of fun reading it to them as they giggle over Hank’s misunderstandings.

Bravo Lisa Moser!

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I love this book. It is silly and cute and I love to do all the different voices of the characters.

[Madelaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 year old LOVED it. Best read with Southern accents.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3 year old loves it

This story is really funny and innocent, it has sequence of events and some of the text is predictable so you can ask the children to participate and predict what will happen next, as well as funny names for the different characters. We give it life by really dramatizing the voices and the “special effects “ the train makes... highly recommend this book

[Amanda Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this book thinking, "Meh, another book about another train, blah blah blah" But this book was hysterical. Railroad Hank isn't very smart, and he is on a quest to make Granny Bett feel better, because she is feeling down, presumably because she is all alone. So, he goes and harasses all sorts of people who also want to help Granny feel better, but then he disrupts their lives by taking chickens (in an effort to get Granny some eggs), trees (to bring her apples) and cows (for milk, of course). I found myself chuckling and then full on laughing out loud at the end. A fun read, and my four year old loved it!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Railroad Hank is travelling up the mountain to visit Granny Bett. As he passes people along the railroad they offer things to make Granny Bett feel better; however, Hank takes their offer in a completely different way! Children will enjoy seeing all the silly goofy mistakes Hank makes when adding things to his train. This book also shows that things cannot always make you better, but the people around you and how you spend your time. Great read aloud, pattern with illustrations to match the flow of the story and train.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Railroad Hank is on his way up the mountain to cheer up Granny Bett. Along the way, he meets up with friends who all offer cheery ideas, but Hank misunderstands. When one friend says scrambled eggs perk her up Hank takes the hens instead of the eggs. The friends chase Hank all the way up the mountain and when Hank asks Granny Bett what cheered her up she says Hank and all his friends!

A funny read aloud with old-timey inspired illustrations.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that, as an adult, I'm not in love with, but I can see the kids getting a kick out of it. Railroad Hank wants to bring something to cheer up Granny Bett, but he's not the sharpest spike in the railroad tie. He brings the whole tree for its apples, the cows for their milk, etc. If you're talking about where food comes from with kids, this book ties right in, and the repetition of "Chugga chugga chugga chugga woo woo woo!" works for storytime chime-in.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Railroad Hank is on his way to visit Granny Bett, who is feeling blue. Along the way he meets several friends who offer eggs, milk, and apples to send along. Hank is a little confused, so the ensuing trek up the mountain gets more chaotic as everyone chases Hank's train. Entertaining cumulative story about friendship.

[Elizabeth Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although my 3yo son likes to read this (bc it's about trains), there are too many really clever children's books too want to pick this one up. This one is trying to be clever while being silly but it's just silly and not much of a story. A bit like Amelia bedelia, but not as clever of a play on language.

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly book about Railroad Hank. As other comments here have noted, he does remind me of Amelia Bedelia with his bumbling good intentions.
The humor was over the head of my little guy, and it was really more about farms than about trains, but I liked the dialect and I loved the goofy character names.

[Romelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and lively story about Railroad Hank who is headed up the mountain to see Granny Bett who is "feeling kind of blue." Along the way he picks up a few things from his friends that would make Granny Bett feel better. The misunderstanding by Railroad Hank makes this a humorous read.

Full of alliteration, word play, and assonance, RAILROAD HANK makes a fun read-aloud book!

[Great Books]

Railroad Hank is a well-meaning, but confused engineer who tries to cheer up Granny Bett with the help of many people on his route. Even with his many misunderstandings will he manage to bring just the thing Granny needs? The colorful pictures are fun and really add to the story. Reviewer 12

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic, superb illustrations and a silly story to boot. My little Mr. E. asked me today, "Why is the conductor not smart enough to take the right stuff on the train?" :) Because that's what makes the story, I suppose.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Railroad Hank is a “fine little train”. With a good heart. When he learns that Granny Brett is feeling blue, he rushes off to help her feel better. Along the way he gets advice from those he meets on how to cheer Granny Brett up. Follow along as he gets some unusual suggestions.

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seems like a funny book. Hank is a train conductor who is going to visit Granny Bett. As he goes up to visit her, he stops to see what he can take up to her. I think this is a great book for young children.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about how friends can help each other feel better when they’re blue. The train driver is not the brightest crayon in the box, but the friends helped everything get better and they all lived happily ever after.