Trains Run!

PreS-Gr 1–This installment in a transportation series by George Ella Lyon and her son Benn takes on the world of trains. The jaunty story explores how trains are powered, the sounds they make, the different types of cars they pull, and much more. As in Planes Fly, Boats Float, and Trucks Roll, the rhyming text is set in large and bold font and the placement of the wording changes from page to page, which adds visual interest. Not only are different types of trains explored, but also the people who ride them, work on them, and the different terrains they travel through. To add to the fun, the refrain “Trains run!” is repeated throughout and will certainly encourage young readers to join in. Wiggins’s digitally created illustrations capture the rhythm and flow of locomotives and there is a particularly dramatic spread of a train traveling over an awe-inspiring trestle bridge as people look on.