Choo Choo Clickety-clack!

by Margaret Mayo, Alex Ayliffe (Illustrator)

Boats, trains, cars, planes, bikes, buses, and balloons soar and race, taking people to faraway places. Bounce, zoom, and rattle along in this bright, playful book jam-packed with vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Transport, Trains, Storytime, Nonfiction, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

For the Romance novelist see: Margaret Mayo

Margaret Mary Cumming was born 10 May 1935 in London, England, the daughter of William John and Anna (Macleod) Cumming. On 28 July 1958, she married Peter Robin Mayo, a university lectured, and they had three children: Roderick, Katrina and Andrew.

Margaret Mayo was a children's literature and folktales writer. A former teacher, she uses her wide-ranging experience with children in her writing. She lives in Brighton.

Reviews

[Vanessa Peavy · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the early grades students will begin to learn about transportation. As a book talk about the different types of transportation that is listed in the book. Once the book is done, make a 3 column list that are lableled air, water, land. Have students sort the transportations accordingly. To engage the students even more, you can begin by singing songs that are based on transportation, like wheels on the bus, row your boat, ect.

Grades PreK-K

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son really likes this book but I don't think it's as good as the Dig Dig Digging by the same author. The pattern is the same but the rhyming doesn't flow as well. The anaphora is effective and the onomatopoeia appealing to little ears so still a really good book for toddlers.

[Jason Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot handle the terrible rhyme scheme. But the pictures are nice and my son likes it.

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vehicles such as trains, sailboats, and a cable car?!? “Off they go!” - A good repetitive chant for this good transportation storytime read.

[Aolund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of rhythmic language rich in gerunds (revving, whizzing, swinging etc), this book is an energetic celebration of all things transportation. The pictures are fantastically colored, with pink skies and purple roads, but the depictions of the various cars, buses, ferryboats, etc are accurate. The people shown in the pictures have diverse skin tones. Good for pre-k storytime.

Themes: Transportation, Travel, Movement

[Hannah Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children can learn about how to get around in the world. This is a great book for children. I didn't know about hot air balloons until I saw them or cable cars until I rode one in Tennessee on a family trip. There is a lot of transportation in the world. The pictures show more than one of each object. The objects' names are in bold.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rhyme scheme gets a little weird in places, and I detest the "speed, speed, speeding ... fly, fly, flying ... drive, drive, driving..." it just doesn't flow well. But, with a little on the spot editing, this one will make a nice toddler story time book for a transportation theme.

[Kaitlynne Manley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book to read, elementary aged kids would like this book I’m sure. Definitely a must try in the classroom.

[Leticia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for kids that really like vehicles.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Variety of modes of transportation. Repetition of “Off they go!” helps keep kids focused and interested.

[Ian McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely bright illustrations and *so* many different types of transport. The hot air balloons were out favourites.

[AWLinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice color. A book about trains . Ride or play with a train to make the sounds in the book.

[Gordon Pennington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Choo Choo CLickety Clack is a children's book focusing on the concept of transportation. The various modes of transportation listed in the book range from cars to hot air balloons. The text is written in such a way that the words are slanted, creating a sense of gasoline exhaust. This book was fairly entertaining; I feel children would enjoy it. It would be a great resource to start a transporation theme or a theme of how the world is interconnected.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will be enjoyable for an child who is interested in things that go--which is quite a few really. We go through several types of vehicles, such as trains, cars, and even hot air balloons. It's a good way to get kids thinking about all of the different things that move and it opens up a lot of questions and stories. Just ask kids if they've been on some of these things as you go along, and the storytime will really push forward!

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free verse poetry and nicely done, colorful collage-style art depicting a different vehicle on each page -- that's right, not JUST trains, people. And every vehicle is deeply, deeply beloved by my daughter. She cannot get enough of this book. Buses, trains, bikes, motorcycles, sailboats, hot air balloons, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?! VEHICLES!!!!!! ON EVERY PAGE!!!!! BUS!!!!!!! BUS!!!!! BUS!!!!!!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems like there are many 2 and 3 star reviews of this book written by people who have not read it to toddlers and pre-schoolers. My kids love this book. I can't count how many times I have read it. Just like any book it might not resonate with every kid but we have recommended this one and Dig Dig Digging to many who have told me their little ones like them too.

[Rebecca Snodgrass · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so repetitive it got boring. It was informational in the fact that it told what each form of transportation does. The pictures was very simple. I feel like older kids would be bored, but the younger kids would like to tell you what they think each form of transportation does. I do not recommend this book.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

God, the syntax of this book is weird. Takes a bit of getting used to. The pictures are lovely and bright, but our kid (20 months) gets lost at cable cars and hot air balloons 'cause he doesn't know what they are (on those pages he just points out the cows or whatever). He's going through a car and truck phase so we'll see how this book outlasts that.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I'm throwing books out there, I might as well add this since I spend most of my time reading it. :) Seriously, I have this book momorized. I've read this so many times, I could have read thousands of pages of "real" books. ha ha

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book would be great for little boys but I am afraid that little girls would get bored with it. It is all about bikes and planes and cars and trains. I feel that it is a good read aloud book though because it is predictable and the students could possibly respond to.

[Alyce Dougan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for young children with colorful pictures. On each page they have a picture of some type of transportation and the sound it makes. Children would love to help make the noises of the pictures.

[Jessy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book would be good for a k-2 setting. It plays with words in a way that can get children interested on the book. The books describes different forms of transportation and does a great job of giving descriptive words to go along with the actions.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

trains, cars, planes, boats and bikes. what they do and the sounds they make. cute.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good intro to transportation storytime - talks about lots of different modes.

[Nick Cherry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a great book that would be perfect for teaching different colors, and even different types of transportation. I think a teacher could tie in a math lesson with this book as well.

[Amber Pangburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was about objects that move throughout the day. I would use this in a classroom to explain objects that move.

[Katie Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read book about the sounds different types of transportation uses. This book is appropriate for preschoolers and kindergarteners. It can be used to show the different types of transportation.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific book for the preschooler who loves moving vehicles, especially fast ones!!!

[Allison Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rhyming text with large, bright illustrations. Some vehicle sounds were easier to imitate than others.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 2 out of 5]

3* art
2* text

Not quite as good as "Dig Dig Digging". The text was hard to read aloud without tripping over it. And Squirt prefers the diggers (at the moment).