Rating: 
Summary: Simple, timeless classic for young engineers
Review: With a few words and the most marvellous illustrations, Freight Train will take your child on a magical journey. Each page features a different part of the freight train in a bright color. Then the whole train moves through the countryside, faster and faster until the colors start to blur from the speed.Several things make this simple book so effective. First, the bright colors are identified to help preschoolers learn them. Next, the different cars on the train are given names, so young engineers will recognize them when they see a real freight train. They are introduced to the engine and tender (in hard-working black), a hopper car, a tanker car, a flat car, and so on all the way to the red caboose in back. Best of all, these are not simplistic little kid pictures. What I think makes this book so appealing is how detailed the train cars are. Every little rivet and brake hose is visible in these pictures despite the bright colors. I think our little engineers recognize that this is a REAL TRAIN BOOK even if the words are large and the sentences brief. I saw my son studying each car so intently, looking at all those little parts. Crews' drawings are absolutely remarkable, and our kids recognize QUALITY. I can honestly tell you to buy this one sight unseen for your young train-lovers (ages 2-5).
Rating: 
Summary: A cornucopia of visual images
Review: Writing a review for of a children's picture book is, as a rule, somewhat difficult. The simpler the text, the harder it is to come up with something new and original to say. I just read Donald Crews's "Freight Train" because it is widely hailed as a good book for children. The story follows a freight train (after carefully identifying each and every car) driving through hill and dale. Each car has a different color, following the classic Roy G. Biv configuration, culminating with the impressive black steam engine. Viscerally, I liked the detail Crews took in illustrating the page presenting this impressive piece of machinery. Every bolt and curve is outlined in a stately violet tone. Meanwhile, black steam created by coal pours and gushes from the train. This is a book about just how impressive the industrial age really is. The speed of the train is praised to no end, colored cars blurring as the engine picks up speed. Going through cities the rainbow carriages stand out against the stately repetitive buildings on the street. For those children entranced by trains (thank-you, Thomas the Tank Engine, et. al), this book encapsulates everything they might want. Reading it over and over again they'll enjoy the colors and train's increase in speed. Reading it over and over again YOU will enjoy the artist's use of color and form, especially taking pleasure in such scenes as the train's blurred deep tones as it disappears into a tunnel. I'll be honest. I've read more interesting books in my day, and if you are purchasing this book for children that couldn't care less about trains, they may not take to this particular story. But there is something to be said for beauty in all its forms. Even, the coal-burning mechanical kind.
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