Trains

 

 

Title: Seymour Simon's Book of Trains
Author: Seymour Simon
Age: 8-11

In a very interesting but simplistic format of full color photographs with a paragraph or two explanation of different train types (steam, diesel, electric) and various types of storage cars (boxcar, gondola, hopper, tank cars, etc.) The text is easy to understand and contains basic information regarding trains in the United States and a few other locations in the world.

Issues: Simon mentions the TGV, but does not offer an explanation of what this abbreviation means (Train Grande Vitesse I had to look it up) and while he mentions electric trains, he neglects to mentions maglev trains or the Japanese Bullet Train that travels faster than nearly every other train on the planet.

I would recommend this book to introduce more information on trains, but I would progress to another book with more information such as The big book of trains for specific examples, more pictures, and a more global viewpoint.