Choo Choo

by Petr Horáček

Hop in! The bold illustrations and playful sound words in these two board books with die-cut pages will beckon to preschoolers who love things that go.

What could be more fun than an old-fashioned train ride? Off go the passengers, past the town, into the woods (SHHH, SHHH), over the bridge (CLACK, CLACK), into the tunnel (TOOT, TOOT), and back out into the sunshine. Who could guess that the destination is ? a day at the seaside?

Genres: Picture Books, Transport, Childrens, Trains, Storytime, Spanish Literature

16 pages, Board book

First published May 5, 2007

About the author

Petr Horáček is the author-illustrator of Look Out, Suzy Goose and Silly Suzy Goose, as well as Run, Mouse, Run!; Bird, Fly High; A New House for Mouse; and Strawberries Are Red. He lives in England.

Reviews

[Deania · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a cute board book. It is good for 0-2 ages. It is short and colorful and is nice to see the area they travel through.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The day I brought this home, we read it at least 6 times. The chunky cut-out pages are easy for little hands to turn, and the bright bold paintings are quite captivating. The text is simple, yet very dynamic, thanks to the action words (CHOO CHOO; CLACK CLACK; PUFF PUFF). Of Horacek's recent board book series (Beep Beep; Bird, Fly High) this is my favorite. The illustrations are more appealing, and the text reads more naturally and lends itself easier to elaboration and dialogue.

[SBC · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first Petr Horacek book I read and expected to love this too, but the illustrated people didn't really work for me.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

My five month old loves this book, would recommend for 3 months and up

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice die cuts that depict depth as the train goes on its journey to a fun watery place.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A train takes an onomatopoeia-filled trip to the beach.

This board book features peek-through windows and die-cut pages. There is a different sound on every two-page spread.

This was a big hit with the baby.

My children wanted to know why the people in the book would take a train to the beach instead of just driving their cars, and I had to explain that prior to construction of exclusively car-centric infrastructure following WWII in North America, cars couldn't go everywhere, huge amounts of land weren't dedicated to free surface parking, and people would take other forms of transportation.

[Aireli reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read it to pisqui. i like it

[Asho · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son threw this book into our bag at the library a few weeks ago and I checked it out with some reservations, thinking that at 27 months he might be getting beyond the chunky board book stage. Turns out I was mistaken. He likes the simple text. The book has only a few words on each page, and I think at this point my kiddo has the book memorized. He always says the words of the last couple of pages along with me. He also really likes that the book's pages are cut out to match the scenery. The tunnel with the hole through the page is his favorite part. Bonus: the bright primary colors make this book a good one for working on color recognition.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bilingual board book is in English and Spanish. The simple text with playful sounds, bold illustrations, and cut out pages with a fun destination- the beach- make this title a winner. Six children ride a train through the woods, over a bridge, into a tunnel, into the sunshine, and end at the beach with their arms in the air to celebrate their arrival. The cutout pages- around some houses, through trees and mountains- make the pages easy to turn and draw attention to the scenery. The cutout tunnel holes lead the reader into the darkness and back out again. Recommended for 6 months to 5 years.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 20 month old daughter LOVES this book. I cannot count how many times we've read it. She's always been fascinated with the trains near our house and said "woo-woo" when she heard them, but after this book, it is "dhoo-dhoo!" Just a few easy words per page, bright illustrations and peek-through cutouts really make it great for busy toddlers. I'd buy it since she loves it so much, but I know their tastes change quickly at this age.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liam loves this little book. It's fun to find the ball at the end, and they love the pages with the holes cut out for the tunnels. We read it numerous times each day. And fun sounds of the train and cutouts of the countryside.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

would be great for toddler's train time program. may recommend for storytelling collection.

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great board book for read-aloud!! I love the way the pages are cut out to make it easier to turn the pages, and yet were part of the scenery/illustrations.

[Wilder · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 10 month old baby really likes this book! I wish you could ride the train through the mountains to the beach!

[Huda Fel · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب للفطماء، عن رحلة سريعة على القطار

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute book with fun cut-outs in the pages!

[Allyson Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful like book, sparce evocative words and beautiful illustrations.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an alright train book. I did like that the pages are shaped to match the landscape, and the whole in the page for the tunnel. Otherwise the illustrations and text are just average.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son is a big train fan, so he really enjoyed reading this again and again. I thought the pictures and page shapes of this board book were well done.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4* art
5* story/concept

Squirt loves train sounds. And this book is clever - the holes for the tunnels are a big hit, as are the jagged mountains. Definitely a favorite.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short board book. It was fun making the noises for the choo-choo train. Cassie enjoyed this book.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is 99% good. I liked the part when he said it is dark in here.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great die-cut pages