The relatively new series of brightly-illustrated books on transport by Catherine Foreman is called ‘Machines and Me’. Trains is one title in this series, which also includes planes, boats and tractors.
I’m liking
Bright, big, bold illustrations combined with simple rhyming text make Trains a great title for toddlers. My 2.5 year old learnt the text quickly and can fill in the gaps as I read. One page has two trains, four trains, six trains, eight trains (fun to count together) and another, blue train, black train, red train and green train.
Things that made me go hmmmm
This book didn’t have quite the same charm for me as Boats… the text is slightly less engaging. I liked the ending of Boats a lot, but this one states that trains are saying hello when they say ‘chugga choo’, so we should say ‘chugga choo choo, too!’ It’s a bit strange ;).
The conclusion
The Machines & Me series published by Scholastic is fun and easily readable time and again. They are books that everyone will enjoy, and I recommend them.
