Traveling with Trains by books, music, and more.

These are some of my favorite resources about life surrounding the magical world of train travel, from historical, to classic, to silly, to futuristic imaginations.  I guarantee you, each of these resources have been experienced and loved many times.

There are several Kindermusik semesters that include train themes, see this list on my blog posting:  Kindermusik Programs with themes of travel & vehicles . 

Please feel free to add your favorites to the comment section as well!  I’ll look for them.

Musical Recordings:                                .

All Aboard – John Denver;  Family Artist Series from Sony Wonder, 1997   Avail. at large music stores.   A marvalous, kid friendly collection of songs ALL about trains.  You’ll love Choo Choo Ch’Boogie.  There are several available at www.Amazon.com, as well as other online and local music stores. 

The Little Engine that Could       .

The Little Engine That Could      A Platt & Munk Classic book by Watty Piper;  A little engine saves a train full of toys.        

The Little Engine and The Big Chase   2nd book in the series, and just as fun.  The silly little clown has gotten whisked away by a big diesel engine, and the Little Engine and his friends have to rescue him.   

The Little Engine That Could – An MCA Home Video, Inc. Presentation. 1991.  The classic tale gets a wonderful make over that keeps the classic feel, but flushes out the characters and the story very well.

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The Little Engine That Could – One selection from the Read With Me DVD Series.  Fisher Price has come up with a cool device that allows children to use the DVD player to have classic books read to them, and allows them to be interactive with the story, answering comprehension questions about the story, or playing games based on the story.  Scholastic has met the challenge with a nice selection of DVD books to choose from.  Find the device at www.fisher-price.com, then find the stories at www.scholastic.com .  My 4 year old daughter LOVES these.  Thanks, Valerie!————————————————–Thomas the Tank Engine:  The Complete Collection by Rev. W. Awdrey    Random House Publishing.   I love this book because it includes all of the stories, as well as some background on the author and the development of these stories.

www.thomasandfriends.com   A website full of fun for Thomas fans, includes links to the following:

• Videos
• Games
• TV – leads to information about television shows that include Thomas stories
• Events – information leads to character appearances, as well as
• A Day Out with Thomas, where a real engine has been designed to become Thomas the Tank Engine, and pulls train cars full of children all around the country.  His schedule can be found when you follow the links.

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Other Favorite Train books:

Tootle   A Little Golden Book by Gertrude Crampton; Ill. by Tibor Gergely.   A young engine attends school to learn to be useful.  He has a hard time with “Staying on the Rails, No matter what!”  We LOVE this story about learning to follow the rules.

 

 

Smokey Houghton Mifflin Co.      Written & Illustrated by Bill Peet.    An old rusty steam engine finds a new use, once he is no longer needed in the rail yard.  The ending is a wonderful surprise.  Teachers love it!

Tracks    Scholastic Inc.  by David Galef; Ill. by Tedd Arnold.  

Albert, the railway construction designer, builds a crazy railroad track when his eye glasses break. 

FUNNY picture book!

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I’ve Been Working on the Railroad       Scholastic   The words presented are the same as the classic song, but the pictures tell a bigger, much more fun story.  We spend LOTS of time just talking about what’s going on in the pictures.

Down By the Station  by Will Hillenbrand   Scholastic has done it again.  Classic song, but a whole new story is told through the pictures.  The conductor, the teachers, the baby animals, and the children combine for a wonderful read together book.  Cora pours over both these books, all by herself, singing the songs, and talking about the antics of these creatures.

Other Videos                                                                             .

There are two other videos are described in the blog posting:  Children’s media resources for vehicles and travel

• Cowboy Pooh
• Imaginaria

Florida rail lines:   Take a few of the books with you to enjoy on your REAL TRAIN RIDE.

• Inland Lakes Railways:    www.inlandlakesrailway.com
• Florida Railways Museum:  www.fgcrrm.org 

Best Railroad game:                                                                                                    . 

Rail Baron  – I LOVE this game, but it is definitely for at least 10 years old and older.  It is so cool that the railroads on the map are based on real rail lines that were some of the original built.  The goal of the game is to ride the rails from one destination to another, and collect the payment for making the trip.  The money is used to buy railroads which you can then ride for free.  WAY FUN!  I have the version released in 1984.  I’m not the only fan, you can read about the history of the game at http://www.railgamefans.com/rbp/rbgame.htm 

 

There has not been a new release in quite awhile, but you can find some good used copies on ebay.  Because it is rare, it can be a little spendy – but it is worth it!  If you find a game that doesn’t have all the pieces, it’s ok, you can buy replacement pieces if you follow the links on the website listed above.  There is even an online version that you can play on the computer.