Locomotive

This is a great book. It is the fictional, but very realistic story of a family going West to Sacramento California. It is full of actual places, history, illustrations, and TRAINS! The jupiter is brillantly illustrated. The illustrator does a magnificent job on a diagram of the inner workings of the engine. My son is three years old and I thought he was a little young for the book, but we read it and reread it. I think he will only appreciate it more with time.I am updating my review. My son is now 4 years old and still loves the book. He uses the quote "westward westward goes the train" throughout the day. He has a better understanding of the mechanics of the trains. He loves the use of the double header in the book. It is a fascinating concept for him and he uses this phrase when playing with his own toy trains. I know that this concept was inspired by this book. The rickety bridge and the theoretical train explosion are clearly his favorite parts of the book.

My 4yo is enamored with this book. He will watch nothing other, play nothing other than trains for months straight now, and this is the only book he wants to read since it got here. It's kind of a long read but it's not boring and dragging like some kids' books are. There are different fonts and word art that make reading more interesting, as well as historical facts about the building of the rail line, travel to the west, the workings of the train, amenities for the passengers, and what happens at the stations along the way. I learned a lot just reading it to my kid. At the beginning there is a very cool map of the rail line that the train takes in the book and at the end there is a detailed diagram of the locomotive and all the parts.

If you have a kid who likes trains, this is the book. No matter how old, no matter how knowledgeable, Brian Floca brilliantly tells train-lovers about locomotives in this gem. The illustrations are top-notch, and the storytelling is excellent. My 4-year old cannot yet read, but he practically has the book memorized from how many times he's asked me to read it, and he now will sit quietly with it for up to an hour turning through the pages and taking breaks to play with his toy trains.

Awesome book for our train lover! I bought it because Brian Floca was coming to our local bookstore so our 3 year old had the amazing bonus of meeting Brian Floca and having him sign his name and draw a train in his book. I actually bought it before the reading and he brought it to the event. We got it the day before and read it 4 times that day! We still read it all the time. It is a long book but it holds his attention well and the drawings are lovely and detailed. There is a lot of detail in the writing as well so he's been asking questions about the history in the book which is great.Addendum 1/28/14: Woo hoo, he just won the Caldecott! Super awesome book!

This is more than a picture book. The art is noteworthy yes, but it's also packed with details historical and cultural. The depth of information about the people who worked on the railroad and the parts of the locomotive are wonderful and reflect just how lasting the idioms of the railroad are in even today's English and certainly will help children's understanding when they find those references in novels of the past.The story that is woven throughout of a family that is traveling west by locomotive to reunite with their father/husband is well chosen. We see things through their eyes. It will elicit questions from children about families of the past too. Well Done.I bought the Kindle edition for my Kindle Fire and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll buy a hardcopy for a grandchild gift too.

Purchased this due to a good review in the New York Times and since it won the Caldecott award. It exceeded our expectations. I bought it to read to my 3 year old thinking he'd just like the pictures and perhaps the story. Turns out it is all we read night after night for over a month since we received it. This story follows the journey of a family on their way from Omaha, NE to Sacramento on the Union Pacific and then Central Pacific Railroad. It sublty shows both the romance of train travel and the gritty day to day issues of traveling in late-nineteenth century America. The illustrations are wonderful, in fact they capture a cinematographer's view of the action on a train with changes in point-of-view and landscape and focus. And my 3 year old, he's memorized most of the book and asks for it daily. What an outstanding book!!! It also has great maps and narrative before and after the actual "story" to add a level of education about the UP and CP rail line. Greatness!

After Monday, January 27, 2013, I probably don't have to explain why I would buy this book. (Congratulations, Brian), but I will tell you why I like this book and why we own it in its pre- shiny sticker state.Trains and books are big at our house; so big, in fact, that when I first found out I was pregnant with my son, I bought books and my husband bought train sets -- the gender of the child was irrelevant.Locomotive is an exquisitely illustrated book about... wait for it... trains. It is also a beautifully written story about history. Anyone remotely interested in trains, history, and beautiful books should own a copy of this book.In a year packed with notable and truly excellent children's books, it is not surprisingly that this book rose to the top.

I ordered this book as a gift for my grandson because he is interested in trains. I looked through the book when it arrived, and I thought the illustrations were wonderful. This is a book that my grandson will be able to enjoy for years to come because it goes into detail about the building of the transcontinental railroad. This book is probably better suited for children ages 8 - 10 years old.