Steam Train, Dream Train Hardcover – Picture Book, April 16, 2013

My kid and I both love this book. It's well written, has a spectacular rhyming scheme, good rhythm, and teaches about the types of train cars! The illustrations are cute, and it's a great bedtime story.

Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site is a modern classic that turns construction vehicles in to sleepy machines that need to rest after a long day of work. It gives children an alternate world where the construction trucks actually have personalities. Steam Train Dream Train does something similar for trains but is illustrated so beautifully that I look through it myself.It's fun to read and there are excellent rhymes but one of the most interesting things is that this book includes almost everything your young boy (or maybe girl) probably likes. Such as?Trains (Obviously), with different types of train cars.Zoo animals riding the train and going to sleep on the trainA Dinosaur along with the zoo animals!Monkey's jugglingToys like a plane, Mr Potato Head and blocksDifferent colors of taker carsA giraffe driving a digger and dumping balls in a train car!Ice CreamDragsters!An of course a toy train at the end.Everything wraps up nicely with a boy sleeping soundly in bed. My 2.5 year old just loves it and it is a staple for us at bedtime and I imagine will be for many years. We check out a lot of books from the library as these are not cheap but this one is worth buying. A new classic!

I bought this book for my toddler (almost 3yo) who loves all kinds of vehicles. We already had the 'Goodnight, goodnight, construction site' book which he loved, so I thought I would try this author again. He loves trains and this story and it has become the new favorite. What I like about it: it's colorful, imaginative, has a lot of things that spark questions and conversation, and the fact that he likes it! When I ask him his favorite thing about the book, he said "the train car with the ice cream in it" (haha)! If I had to say something I dislike, the only thing I can come up with is that it sparks a lot of questions (which is great during the day, but when we read it before bed, there is not always time to respond to his questions). Not entirely a bad thing!If you like this book, I would definitely suggest the construction book. We currently have construction going on at our house, so we have seen a lot of those vehicles and my son has learned a lot about it! We plan to keep these books and read them to the twins (boy/girl) and I am sure they will both enjoy them as well (they also love watching the construction vehicles that are around too).

This is my toddler son’s favorite book. It is such a cute story. I bought the board book because our paperback version has been destroyed from daily use. The board book is holding up much better.

Oftentimes author illustrator duo's follow up books can't quite recreate the magic of their previous books, but let me be the one to tell you that this book is a fantastic follow up to Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. Much like your child learned about the different construction vehicles in Goodnight, Steam Train introduces different train cars-- the boxcar, wellcar, hopper and autorack with others. You'll find the same sing-song, rhyming cadence in Steam Train that you have come to love in Goodnight along with more beautiful illustrations drawn on the same dark background paper, lending that night-time feeling to the book.The age recommendation Amazon lists for Steam Train is 4-6 while Goodnight is 1 and up. The language is a bit more advanced in Steam Train, but if your child enjoyed Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site they will enjoy Steam Train, Dream Train. I would probably revise the age recommendation to 3 and up, but keep in mind the book does not have the same sturdy pages as Goodnight; The pages are the same consistency and paper as other illustrated children's books.My two and half year old daughter loved Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site and loves Steam Train, Dream Train; I'm sure your child will love it too.

The book is good, but doesn’t measure up to Good Night, Good night Constriction Site. It doesn’t go over the different types of train cars, which I’m sure our little train enthusiast will appreciate as he gets older.

My son is about 2 1/2, and I just bought this book for him. We've read it several times now. My favorite things about this book are: popular concepts (trains, animals, ice cream, etc.) that are attention-grabbers, some occasional vocabulary boosters (for example, the "color convoy" of tankers that hold different color paints), the vivid illustrations, and the length of the read. It's a bit longer than books that seem similar (including Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site). For all these reasons, it's substantial enough that we can take our time talking about all the scenes instead of going through several shorter books that have less to offer the imagination.Don't know yet whether this will remain one of my son's favorite books, but in any case, it's a great value and he's enjoying it over and over again. When we get to the end, he asks me to read it again. This has become a popular enough title that you could check it out at your local library before you buy it. I knew right away that it'd be a keeper for my son.