Locomotive

Floca, Brian. Locomotive. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013.

Locomotive was the Caldecott for my fourth graders this week. I love the illustrations in it as well as the fact that Atheneum Books for Young Readers used different type set for some of the “sound” words in the text. Brian Floca has written and illustrated an informative book on the early history of locomotives. The book is written as if the reader is a rider on one of the first trains. Through the eyes of this fictional rider, we see what happens at the station, the scenes out the windows, who the workers are along the way, and more about the route the train takes. Locomotive won the Caldecott Award. It was also an honor book for the Robert F. Sibert Award. Both were well-deserved.

The book closes with additional notes on Locomotives as well as a list of sources. The inside of the front and back covers include additional historical information on the Transcontinental Railroad as well as Steam Power.

If you have train fans in your audience or this picture book is not in your Caldecott collection, I highly recommend getting a copy of Locomotive by Brian Floca.

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