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Two Little Trains: A Soft, Beautifully Illustrated Picture Book About a Journey West for Kids
From two-time Caldecott Medal-winning artists Leo and Diane Dillon and beloved children’s book author Margaret Wise Brown comes Two Little Trains . With simple, bouncy text and soft, beautiful illustrations, this story is perfect for fans of things that go! “Sure to delight.” ( Kirkus , starred review) Two little trains went down the track, Two little trains went West. Puff, Puff, Puff and Chug, Chug, Chug, Two little trains to the west.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
7 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Wise Brown
393 books1,209 followersMargaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews
June 21, 2010
This is a re-illustrated version of a largely forgotten Margaret Wise Brown book. If you google you can find one or two of the original images floating around, if you're curious.
In THIS version, the second little train (as you can see on the cover) is a toy train. The writing is simply repetitive, just right for little children, and the connection between what the real train is doing and what the toy train is doing is sweet and imaginative.
Two things bugged me, one very minor and one a little more seriously.
Firstly, although the trains are going "to the west", if you were to look at a map, with North at the top (as is typical), west is to the left... not the right. Never Eat Shredded Wheat, as I taught my nieces, and the compass rose says "WE". Not, heaven forbid, "EW!" So I keep looking at the pictures thinking "But... surely that's EAST!"
I'm aware that this is a stupid thing to complain about, I know it's silly, and I haven't taken off any stars for it or anything. It just bugged me and I had to let it out. Please forgive me :)
The other, slightly more serious bit, is in this line: "The moon shone down on a gleaming track / And the two little trains going West; / And they hurried along and heard the song / Of a black man singing in the West."
The illustration is of the toy train resting by a radio, and opposite it is an image of the (black) man in the moon singing.
Now, you see the bit of the problem? Nowadays it's a bit... awkward to just randomly mention somebody's race unless it's, well, necessary. "Which one of those guys in the picture is Bob, your boyfriend?" "Oh... well, the black one, everybody else is white." It's just kinda weird... it's not like I'd randomly say "The red-haired man singing" or anything like that.
As it happens, I have a few different thoughts about this, and they don't all agree.
1. The text of this book was written in a different era. While I normally find the argument "We can't judge books by our modern standards" to be tiresome (unless you have a time machine, you're not giving the book to a child 50 years ago, so why is it wrong to take modern standards and sensibilities into account when purchasing?), but the text and (modern) illustration here aren't especially offensive. They mention the man's race, they don't demonize or mock it in any way.
2. I'm very interested in the research which says that children pick up racist attitudes more quickly if we do NOT talk about it.
Apparently, since children aren't actually stupid, when they see that other people have skin a different color than their own, they wonder about it. But when their questions are met with embarrassment and attempts to quiet them, and when no explanation is ever given, they come to their own conclusions about skin color... often conclusions we'd rather they hadn't reached. We try not to talk about race in order to be polite, but instead we may send the message that there's something shameful or wrong about being not-like-us... especially if we have few friends outside our own ethnic group. There have actually been a few compelling studies among this line suggesting that the best thing to do IS to talk about race, but in a matter-of-fact way that's not, well, racist.
Which doesn't mean going around pointing to people and going "Look! She's BLACK! Wow!", but it does mean that maybe skipping over that one word and hoping your kid doesn't learn to read quicker than they can ask you why you skip that one word is the best bet.
3. On the third hand... it's just kinda weird to mention randomly that somebody is black! Perhaps in the context it was understood that he was singing a type of music that was primarily part of black culture? I don't know.
So, as you see, I'm mostly on the side of "In this particular instance, it's no big deal", but I appreciate that some people will have reservations about it, and I understand that.
In THIS version, the second little train (as you can see on the cover) is a toy train. The writing is simply repetitive, just right for little children, and the connection between what the real train is doing and what the toy train is doing is sweet and imaginative.
Two things bugged me, one very minor and one a little more seriously.
Firstly, although the trains are going "to the west", if you were to look at a map, with North at the top (as is typical), west is to the left... not the right. Never Eat Shredded Wheat, as I taught my nieces, and the compass rose says "WE". Not, heaven forbid, "EW!" So I keep looking at the pictures thinking "But... surely that's EAST!"
I'm aware that this is a stupid thing to complain about, I know it's silly, and I haven't taken off any stars for it or anything. It just bugged me and I had to let it out. Please forgive me :)
The other, slightly more serious bit, is in this line: "The moon shone down on a gleaming track / And the two little trains going West; / And they hurried along and heard the song / Of a black man singing in the West."
The illustration is of the toy train resting by a radio, and opposite it is an image of the (black) man in the moon singing.
Now, you see the bit of the problem? Nowadays it's a bit... awkward to just randomly mention somebody's race unless it's, well, necessary. "Which one of those guys in the picture is Bob, your boyfriend?" "Oh... well, the black one, everybody else is white." It's just kinda weird... it's not like I'd randomly say "The red-haired man singing" or anything like that.
As it happens, I have a few different thoughts about this, and they don't all agree.
1. The text of this book was written in a different era. While I normally find the argument "We can't judge books by our modern standards" to be tiresome (unless you have a time machine, you're not giving the book to a child 50 years ago, so why is it wrong to take modern standards and sensibilities into account when purchasing?), but the text and (modern) illustration here aren't especially offensive. They mention the man's race, they don't demonize or mock it in any way.
2. I'm very interested in the research which says that children pick up racist attitudes more quickly if we do NOT talk about it.
Apparently, since children aren't actually stupid, when they see that other people have skin a different color than their own, they wonder about it. But when their questions are met with embarrassment and attempts to quiet them, and when no explanation is ever given, they come to their own conclusions about skin color... often conclusions we'd rather they hadn't reached. We try not to talk about race in order to be polite, but instead we may send the message that there's something shameful or wrong about being not-like-us... especially if we have few friends outside our own ethnic group. There have actually been a few compelling studies among this line suggesting that the best thing to do IS to talk about race, but in a matter-of-fact way that's not, well, racist.
Which doesn't mean going around pointing to people and going "Look! She's BLACK! Wow!", but it does mean that maybe skipping over that one word and hoping your kid doesn't learn to read quicker than they can ask you why you skip that one word is the best bet.
3. On the third hand... it's just kinda weird to mention randomly that somebody is black! Perhaps in the context it was understood that he was singing a type of music that was primarily part of black culture? I don't know.
So, as you see, I'm mostly on the side of "In this particular instance, it's no big deal", but I appreciate that some people will have reservations about it, and I understand that.
March 13, 2024
We read the version illustrated by Greg Pizzoli, which has been updated a little from the original and was great.
March 4, 2020
Nothing special. Lots of repeated text and illustrations that show one real train and one toy train both supposedly heading west (although looking at the pictures they seem to be headed east (assuming you put north at the top).
I was put off by the fact that the author felt the need to point out on a spread near the end that the man singing was black. "And they hurried along and heard the song of a black man singing in the west." The accompanying illustration has a black face in the moon with the mouth open as in song. The statement wasn't overtly racist and neither was the illustration, it just felt weird and awkward to me that the author felt the need to point out the man's race.
Overall, I didn't like the book enough to use it for story time.
I was put off by the fact that the author felt the need to point out on a spread near the end that the man singing was black. "And they hurried along and heard the song of a black man singing in the west." The accompanying illustration has a black face in the moon with the mouth open as in song. The statement wasn't overtly racist and neither was the illustration, it just felt weird and awkward to me that the author felt the need to point out the man's race.
Overall, I didn't like the book enough to use it for story time.
March 24, 2020
Read by the author on IG Live 3-23-20
April 3, 2022
4 - 8 years
April 19, 2019
Two Little Trains BY Margaret Wise Brown
Starts with about the author and her works and why she wrote them.
Listened to this story but I can imagine all the colorful pictures making the pages move.
Story of two train one is heading west. Tells about the trains and the differences.
Talks about what they do at the mountain and have to climb it and go through the mountain.
Many other things they had to cross.
Love how one of the trains is a play train in a tub where the child has used a lot of his toys and furniture in his house where the other train was on the same track.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
Starts with about the author and her works and why she wrote them.
Listened to this story but I can imagine all the colorful pictures making the pages move.
Story of two train one is heading west. Tells about the trains and the differences.
Talks about what they do at the mountain and have to climb it and go through the mountain.
Many other things they had to cross.
Love how one of the trains is a play train in a tub where the child has used a lot of his toys and furniture in his house where the other train was on the same track.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
Read
February 4, 2021Greg Pizzoli's stamped, graphic art is the perfect and charming match for classic Margaret Wise Brown.
September 14, 2023
Oddly soothing and metaphorical and the little one likes it too. A win.
Apparently there was a racial issue in the original text. It's not in my edition with illustrations by Pizzoli.
Apparently there was a racial issue in the original text. It's not in my edition with illustrations by Pizzoli.
September 28, 2024
Margaret, I expected a bit more from you.
Nice illustrations.
Nice illustrations.
June 22, 2020
Richie’s Picks: TWO LITTLE TRAINS by Margaret Wise Brown and Greg Pizzoli, Harper, March 2020, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-06-267651-1
“And the train conductor says,
‘Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break,
We’ve been on this shift too long”
-- REM (1984)
“One little train was a streamlined train,
PUFF PUFF PUFF to the West.
One little train was a little old train,
CHUG CHUG CHUG going West.
LOOK DOWN
LOOK DOWN that long steel track,
that long steel track to the West.”
I don’t recall writing before about a new picture book with a story this old. Maybe I’ve discussed one or two old children’s poems that were transformed into picture books, but this is something out of the ordinary.
The mystique of trains still captivates preschoolers, just as it enchanted me. In fact, my oldest personal possessions are the locomotive and a few cars from the 1950s era Lionel set that merrily chugged around our annual Christmas trees until the transformer finally gave out.
Trains are forever entwined with white settlement of the North American continent. Completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 connected eastern America with the West.
It’s easy to love the joyful, rhythmic verses by Margaret Wise Brown (of GOODNIGHT MOON fame). It’s a well-told tale that has endured for multiple generations, over 70+ years. The text makes for a first-rate read-aloud,
“The wind it blew,
and the dust it flew
around the two little trains going West.
But the dust storm drew
not a toot or a whoo
or a whistle
from the trains going West.”
The first iteration of Brown’s TWO LITTLE TRAINS, published in 1949, was illustrated by Jean Charlot. Half a century later, the lyrics were re-illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Now, 71 years after the original publication, TWO LITTLE TRAINS has been reimagined, yet again, by Greg Pizzoli. His custom-made rubber stamps give the story, and the two little trains, a beautiful, classic vibe.
Aside from the onomatopoeic flourishes, this is a tale told in the third person. It’s a story of two friends, who happen to have some physical differences, who are on a cross-country adventure together. Through tunnels, across rivers, and over mountains they travel. There are tornadoes and horses running wild. There are clock towers and factories and cacti.
Get on board! Don’t get left at the station! You’ve gotta check out these TWO LITTLE TRAINS.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
“And the train conductor says,
‘Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break,
We’ve been on this shift too long”
-- REM (1984)
“One little train was a streamlined train,
PUFF PUFF PUFF to the West.
One little train was a little old train,
CHUG CHUG CHUG going West.
LOOK DOWN
LOOK DOWN that long steel track,
that long steel track to the West.”
I don’t recall writing before about a new picture book with a story this old. Maybe I’ve discussed one or two old children’s poems that were transformed into picture books, but this is something out of the ordinary.
The mystique of trains still captivates preschoolers, just as it enchanted me. In fact, my oldest personal possessions are the locomotive and a few cars from the 1950s era Lionel set that merrily chugged around our annual Christmas trees until the transformer finally gave out.
Trains are forever entwined with white settlement of the North American continent. Completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 connected eastern America with the West.
It’s easy to love the joyful, rhythmic verses by Margaret Wise Brown (of GOODNIGHT MOON fame). It’s a well-told tale that has endured for multiple generations, over 70+ years. The text makes for a first-rate read-aloud,
“The wind it blew,
and the dust it flew
around the two little trains going West.
But the dust storm drew
not a toot or a whoo
or a whistle
from the trains going West.”
The first iteration of Brown’s TWO LITTLE TRAINS, published in 1949, was illustrated by Jean Charlot. Half a century later, the lyrics were re-illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Now, 71 years after the original publication, TWO LITTLE TRAINS has been reimagined, yet again, by Greg Pizzoli. His custom-made rubber stamps give the story, and the two little trains, a beautiful, classic vibe.
Aside from the onomatopoeic flourishes, this is a tale told in the third person. It’s a story of two friends, who happen to have some physical differences, who are on a cross-country adventure together. Through tunnels, across rivers, and over mountains they travel. There are tornadoes and horses running wild. There are clock towers and factories and cacti.
Get on board! Don’t get left at the station! You’ve gotta check out these TWO LITTLE TRAINS.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
Read
September 29, 2013This is a poem of two little trains, a "streamlined train" and a "little old train", "going west."
The marvelous illustrations transform this rather dull poem into a story, and tell the story pictorially far better than the text does.
The pictures tell the story of two trains, one a sleek passenger train, the other a toy train. The movement of the real train is echoed in the imaginary scenarios featuring the toy train being played with at home. For example, when the "two little trains [come] to a hill, a mountainous hill to the West", the "streamlined train" passes through a tunnel in a hill and the toy train is shown passing through a tunnel formed by a book "mountain."
My older daughters (6 and 7) liked the illustrations and liked pointing out the contrasting elements between the two trains. They have looked at the pictures more than once since we brought it home from the library, but were underwhelmed by the text. "Boring", was their response. My 3 year old didn't "get" this book at all, and wandered away in the middle. None of them have asked me to re-read it.
That's not to say, of course, that it won't be loved by other children. And it was worth checking out for the pictures alone.
I realize I am opening myself up for all kinds of criticism, but I just don't see the appeal of Margaret Wise Brown's stories. I find her writing insipid and flat. My children have never gravitated to her books, and the few times we have checked her books out of the library, they never ask for them to be re-read, which is a relief to me.
The marvelous illustrations transform this rather dull poem into a story, and tell the story pictorially far better than the text does.
The pictures tell the story of two trains, one a sleek passenger train, the other a toy train. The movement of the real train is echoed in the imaginary scenarios featuring the toy train being played with at home. For example, when the "two little trains [come] to a hill, a mountainous hill to the West", the "streamlined train" passes through a tunnel in a hill and the toy train is shown passing through a tunnel formed by a book "mountain."
My older daughters (6 and 7) liked the illustrations and liked pointing out the contrasting elements between the two trains. They have looked at the pictures more than once since we brought it home from the library, but were underwhelmed by the text. "Boring", was their response. My 3 year old didn't "get" this book at all, and wandered away in the middle. None of them have asked me to re-read it.
That's not to say, of course, that it won't be loved by other children. And it was worth checking out for the pictures alone.
I realize I am opening myself up for all kinds of criticism, but I just don't see the appeal of Margaret Wise Brown's stories. I find her writing insipid and flat. My children have never gravitated to her books, and the few times we have checked her books out of the library, they never ask for them to be re-read, which is a relief to me.
August 2, 2020
Love this edition of Margaret Wise Brown’s Two Little Trains. The modern illustrations by Greg Pizzoli bring so much life to the story. The classic text, originally published in the 1940s, reads with such rhythm it’s almost impossible not to tap your foot or bob your head to the beat.
In the story, there are two trains who are making a journey out west. One train is streamlined and one is old, but together they make a great team (just like the old text and new illustrations that came together to create this picture book!!). For anyone whose children are obsessed with trains or things-that-go, Two Little Trains is a must-read!
In the story, there are two trains who are making a journey out west. One train is streamlined and one is old, but together they make a great team (just like the old text and new illustrations that came together to create this picture book!!). For anyone whose children are obsessed with trains or things-that-go, Two Little Trains is a must-read!
September 15, 2012
This is a new rendering of this rather obscure story by Margaret Wise Brown. The new illustrations tell most of the story, and while breathing something of a classic feel, make the story more modern and - I suspect - drastically better. I myself loved it, and the juxtaposition of the two trains really tickled my son's imagination. Absolutely delightful!
June 15, 2016
What a gem with Margaret Wise Brown as the text author and Leo and Diane Dillon as the illustrators. Loved the illustration concept of on the left side of the double page spread is the sleek train heading west and on the right hand side is the depiction that a young child is playing with their train and the same things are occurring to both trains.
It was a delight to find this title as I straightened library book shelves yesterday after a busy summer reading day.
It was a delight to find this title as I straightened library book shelves yesterday after a busy summer reading day.
February 1, 2014
The repeating "to the West" phrase was kind of annoying...I started reading it aloud without it and it was much better.
March 24, 2018
I'm not sure why, and I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to, but this one brings me near tears every time.
July 20, 2020
Very long for a picture book and different type of art
March 1, 2024
The picture book deep dives I've done in the past (Gorey, Sendak, among others) have largely been by author/illustrators, so rarely have I encountered alternate versions of the same text. Reading MWB has taught me how illustrations change a picture book, not just the aesthetic but the tone, emphasis, even interpretation.
Two trains puff puff puff, chug chug chug, to the west. The Dillon frames one as real train and one as a toy, which is a classic real/play parallel that invites the child reader to imagine a stair rail as a mountain. And, as it's Dillon, the art is unsurprisingly solid.
But the (original 1949) Charlot is a different beast entire, a dreamscape of two trains rendered in flat pale colors and loose, fluid lines, the child-conductors napping under a gilded moon and amidst animal cargo on a long, surreal journey west, west, west. Rather than parallelism, repetition, but the use of negative space and direct address in the text ("Look down, look down that long steel track / Where you and I must go") invite the reader aboard.
The Charlot is less concrete and more open, impressionistic, fantastical even, and I'm crazy about it; and, also, by the juxtaposition, because while the Charlot is objectively better, the text taken in two such different directions is insightful and thought-provoking. And there's yet a third (Pizzoli) that I haven't read, and who know how it alters the text.
Two trains puff puff puff, chug chug chug, to the west. The Dillon frames one as real train and one as a toy, which is a classic real/play parallel that invites the child reader to imagine a stair rail as a mountain. And, as it's Dillon, the art is unsurprisingly solid.
But the (original 1949) Charlot is a different beast entire, a dreamscape of two trains rendered in flat pale colors and loose, fluid lines, the child-conductors napping under a gilded moon and amidst animal cargo on a long, surreal journey west, west, west. Rather than parallelism, repetition, but the use of negative space and direct address in the text ("Look down, look down that long steel track / Where you and I must go") invite the reader aboard.
The Charlot is less concrete and more open, impressionistic, fantastical even, and I'm crazy about it; and, also, by the juxtaposition, because while the Charlot is objectively better, the text taken in two such different directions is insightful and thought-provoking. And there's yet a third (Pizzoli) that I haven't read, and who know how it alters the text.
February 3, 2023
I'm starting a project trying to read classic picture books. This is the first in that series. (although I've read other classic picture books, just not for this series) I honestly wanted to do this because I read "Caps for Sale" last year (or was it the year before?) and didn't know why it had such staying power. I didn't see anything special in it, so I'm trying to figure out what makes a picture book become a classic.
This book was average at best. (at least with my modern sensibilities) maybe infants (younger than the usual picture book age) are really taken in by trains, but if your kiddo (or you) aren't into trains, there is nothing here. I will say that my edition came with brand new illustrations by Greg Pizzoli that were based on stamps and I thought the illustrations were lovely, but they were brand new lol. Margaret Wise Brown wrote Goodnight Moon (a book for infants that I do understand its staying power) but this isn't it.
This book was average at best. (at least with my modern sensibilities) maybe infants (younger than the usual picture book age) are really taken in by trains, but if your kiddo (or you) aren't into trains, there is nothing here. I will say that my edition came with brand new illustrations by Greg Pizzoli that were based on stamps and I thought the illustrations were lovely, but they were brand new lol. Margaret Wise Brown wrote Goodnight Moon (a book for infants that I do understand its staying power) but this isn't it.
September 1, 2022
Challenge: Reading Goal Posts/Reading Your Lifetime - Children's classic (1940s). A sleek modern train and a vintage train travel together west across the recognizable North American continent. Their journey exposes children to geographic landforms, weather elements, and obstacles. The artwork is reimagined by Greg Pizzoli using custom-made stamps and marvelously shows what can be done with various forms and shapes to create a visual landscape and details expected to be encountered. My adult self becomes critical wondering why the old vintage train leads the sleek modern train, and why the (Pacific) ocean is presented in the story first then the Arizona desert filled with Saguaro cactus as the most western destination. But that is the innocent acceptance we lose as adults. It is still a delightful story.
October 31, 2020
A cute enough book for train lovers, but I had a couple nitpicky issues with it.
First of all, I wish the trains were traveling east since they were traveling from left to right on the page. I know left to right doesn't mean east, but for kids, it would help them remember the directions of the compass. Again - super picky of me.
Second, my son pointed out that the steam engine should be "puffing" instead of the diesel train. I didn't think about it until he pointed it out, but once he said it, it bothered me the rest of the time. It would make much more sense for the steam engine to "puff" and the diesel to "chug."
First of all, I wish the trains were traveling east since they were traveling from left to right on the page. I know left to right doesn't mean east, but for kids, it would help them remember the directions of the compass. Again - super picky of me.
Second, my son pointed out that the steam engine should be "puffing" instead of the diesel train. I didn't think about it until he pointed it out, but once he said it, it bothered me the rest of the time. It would make much more sense for the steam engine to "puff" and the diesel to "chug."
March 29, 2024
This reprint edition contains the original illustrations by Jean Charlot. The two trains both look like toy trains, but they appear to pass through the American landscape as described by the text. A little boy rides on the (blue/gray) "streamlined" train and a little girl rides on the (pink) "little old train." On the two-page spread with the lines "The moon shone down on a gleaming track, and the two little trains going West; and they hurried along and heard the song of a black man singing in the West," the corresponding illustration shows the children sleeping and a large moon in the sky, but nothing related to the "black man singing."
May 29, 2021
I feel compelled to nitpick this book because it has potential. First of all, why don't the trains have any cars? Second of all, why are they going west? And are they racing? Third, the refrain that repeats over and over gets annoying. I live in California (the West?) So I totally get wanting to come here. But I don't know if a kid would really get that for a main character's motivation. It's not a bad book, but take out a few instances of "to the west" and I think I would enjoy reading it more.
Read
January 25, 2022I have heard praise for the name 'Margaret Wise Brown' tossed around in children's literature circles, but I guess I didn't realize that she wrote the classics Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. When I was a kid, we had those two as board books and my mom would read them to me. I was confused about this one though because the cover looked quite new. But I guess it was just new illustrations. I think this could be a read-along, so the kids can say the "look down, look down" and "Choo, Choo" with me. Interactive!
February 17, 2022
2.8
story: fun to read aloud but didn't like the continual references to 'west' -- what difference does the direction make to a young audience? And "the black man singing in the West" -- hmm. What did that have to do with the train?
as for the art: 'two little trains' -- this is repeated over and over again, except there's one big train and one little train
The art is well-done, but it probably wouldn't be my choice for a 4-yr-old audience. Of course, I haven't actually read this to a child, so maybe my opinion would change.
story: fun to read aloud but didn't like the continual references to 'west' -- what difference does the direction make to a young audience? And "the black man singing in the West" -- hmm. What did that have to do with the train?
as for the art: 'two little trains' -- this is repeated over and over again, except there's one big train and one little train
The art is well-done, but it probably wouldn't be my choice for a 4-yr-old audience. Of course, I haven't actually read this to a child, so maybe my opinion would change.
Read
November 23, 2022As with Goodnight Moon the charm and power of the text in this book is the repetition. And the journey West becomes more intriguing the more times we read this. My child was enthralled because this features trains and wanted to hear it night after night. He also really was drawn into the part where the trains go through a tunnel. I loved the stamp like illustrations that were reminiscent of stamps that used to be put on mail by the post office or documents by government organizations.
August 23, 2023
Who are the main characters in this picture book? Trains. Two little trains.
That's the thing about writing books for preschoolers. Between their curiosity and their way of falling in love with life and everything in it... trains can become ADORABLE main characters.
HOW "Two Little Trains" TURNS OUT
This turns out to be a simple story, with a most tidy conclusion. Not that I'm going to blab out the happy ending, Goodreaders, no no!
FIVE STARS to author Margaret Wise Brown and illustrator Greg Pizzoli.
That's the thing about writing books for preschoolers. Between their curiosity and their way of falling in love with life and everything in it... trains can become ADORABLE main characters.
HOW "Two Little Trains" TURNS OUT
This turns out to be a simple story, with a most tidy conclusion. Not that I'm going to blab out the happy ending, Goodreaders, no no!
FIVE STARS to author Margaret Wise Brown and illustrator Greg Pizzoli.
August 27, 2025
**This review is for the version illustration by Greg Pizzoli**
I understand there is a questionable line in the original book. However, in this version, it has been updated to read, "...and old man singing in the West". My toddler and I have really enjoyed this library borrow! The illustrations are very fun and unique, having been done in part with custom stamps. The book also has a very nice, repetitive rhythm that makes it fun and easy to read. I've actually caught my toddler flipping through it and reciting the lines she remembers! I would consider adding this one to our home library.
I understand there is a questionable line in the original book. However, in this version, it has been updated to read, "...and old man singing in the West". My toddler and I have really enjoyed this library borrow! The illustrations are very fun and unique, having been done in part with custom stamps. The book also has a very nice, repetitive rhythm that makes it fun and easy to read. I've actually caught my toddler flipping through it and reciting the lines she remembers! I would consider adding this one to our home library.
August 3, 2018
A picture book showing two trains going West. One is a real train and one is a toy train. Cleverly told and illustrated.
Ages: 3 - 6
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
Ages: 3 - 6
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
February 25, 2019
Lovely, rhythmic text by Margaret Wise Brown—the feel reminded me of a soothing song a cowboy might sing to his cattle at night. And the book has been beautifully re-illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. I googled the original illustrations just to compare, and I much prefer the updated ones. The parallel pictures of the real train and the toy train are a delightful way to keep a child's attention all the way through.
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