Freight Train
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Page Grabbers stage.
Why it fits Page Grabbers (for young toddlers who treat books as things to do)
A train of pure color rolls through tunnels and cities in very few words. Colors, motion words, and one satisfying whoosh of a narrative. A Caldecott Honor for good reason - it is perfect design.
What makes it special
Crews needed only fourteen words and a smear of color to explain motion itself. The airbrushed blur of the train passing through tunnel and city remains one of picture-book design's most copied effects. It's minimalism toddlers understand instantly — proof that less, moving fast, can out-teach more.
From the publisher
Brief text and illustrations trace the journey of a colorful train as it goes through tunnels, by cities, and over…
About Donald Crews
Donald Crews graduated from Cooper Union in New York City in 1959 and makes bold, graphic picture books whose design and colour are, in the ALA's words, "dynamic and accessible, especially to toddlers." Freight Train was a 1979 Caldecott Honor book and Truck a 1981 Caldecott Honor book; in 2015 he received the ALA's Children's Literature Legacy Award.
Crews spent childhood summers at his grandparents' home in rural Cottondale, Florida — trips that became his autobiographical books Bigmama's and Shortcut.
Also by this author: Truck · School Bus · Bigmama's
More from “Point and Name”
This book is part of The Best Books for Toddlers: 30 Teacher Picks (Page Grabbers) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.