Seymour Simon's Book of Trains

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional train book for youngsters
Review: My 3 year old, like many others his age, is obsessed with trains. We regularly go to the library to check out books about trains. We found this one on a recent visit, and it stands heads and shoulders above many of the others I've seen because it is a great balance between the picture books that preschoolers and older children love and non-fiction books that can sometimes be too detailed for children.

Every other page has a photograph of a type of train or part of a train, and the facing pages provide a small amount of text about the subject. There is just enough text to provide basic information plus a little more, but the text is short enough that the entire book can be read aloud to a child in about 5-10 minutes. All types of trains (steam, diesel, and electric) are shown as well as different types of cars.

The photographs are bright, clear, and coloful, so much so that the images approache coffee-table book quality. This book would make an excellent gift.