Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Dec 16, 2014mmcbeth29 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I like this book for its fun and new way of looking at an old concept--trains. In this story, a boy tells you all the ways you should pick out a pet train, how to take care of it, and how to train it. He gives advice on naming the train, bathing it, telling it stories at night, and playing with it. Treating a train as a pet is unusual and creative. The illustrations are rich, colorful and absolutely gorgeous. This book is advertized for ages 4-8. However, the concepts and humor in this book are at times more mature. I think it is best suited for grades K-3. The author gives a warning in the back of the book that the stunts performed in the book should never be attempted and are extremely dangerous. I would have liked to have seen this on the first page of the book. I was also slightly disturbed by the catching of the train by standing on the tracks, netting it, or trapping it in quicksand. Would we get a pet animal this way? This portion of the book is one of the major reasons why this book would be better suited for older children who understand the concept of pretend.