28 Train Books for Kids

All aboard!  We are loading up with train books for kids. We’ve got some titles for toddlers, preschoolers, and beyond. Toot! Toot!

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Yes, there are the classic train books: The Polar Express, The Little Engine that Could, All Aboard Trains, The Little Red Caboose, and oodles of Thomas books.  But, there are so many other wonderful books to explore too.  Let’s travel down the book track.

Train Books for Children

Train Books for Toddlers

I’m a big fan of  That’s Not My… series from Usborne.  They are some of the best touch and feel books available.  That’s Not My Train is a perfect pick for a little one who is falling in love with trains.

Take a ride on the subway in the Subway by Anastasia Suen.  This playful board book is illustrated by toddler favorite, Karen Katz.

A great nap time read is Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker.  Fill up the train cars and get the train down the track.

Trains Go by Steve Light will have little ones feeling like they are zooming along on a train.

What little one doesn’t love to pretend to be in charge of the train.  Enjoy Train Man by Andrea Zimmerman with a budding toddler conductor.

Train Books for Preschoolers and Up

You will want to decorate your wooden train tracks after enjoying Old Tracks New Tricks by Jessica Petersen.

Learn who is faster in I’m Fast by Kate & Jim McMullan.  Will it be the train or car?

For another shark racing against something, check out Shark vs Train by Chris Barton.

For kids who can not get enough real pictures of trains, grab My Big Train Book by Roger Priddy.

Practice color recognition in the classic, Freight Trainby Donald Crews.

Kids will love adding sound effects to Snakes on a Train by Kathryn Dennis.

Grab a flashlight and enjoy reading On the Train- Shine-A-Light by Carron Brown. When you shine a light through the pages, they reveal hidden elements.

Learn about trains and what they do in I Love Trains by Philemon Sturges.

Real images of trains, lots of train vocabulary, and alphabet practice is all wrapped up in All Aboard ABC by Doug Magee.

A little train is about to have a great adventure in The Littlest Train by Chris Gall.

My kids adore the wordless Trainstop by Barbara Lehman.  Use the images to create your own story.

Trains Run! by George Ella Lyon and Benn Lyon starts, “Trains travel down the track- All day gone. All night back. Trains run!” The “trains run” is repeated over and over again inviting kids to join and feel the trains moving down the tracks. A great poetic pick.

Hop on the subway and travel around the world in Subway Ride by Heather Miller.

Trains can be fast or slow and long or short.  Find out all about trains in This Train by Paul Collicutt.

Feel, hear, and watch in Trains: Steaming! Pulling! Huffing! by Patricia Hubbell.

Take a trip on The Little Train by Lois Lenski. You’ll pick up passengers and cargo along the way.

Train hop across the USA in Train by Elisha Cooper.

Train Books for Kindergarten and Up

Gail Gibbons is the queen of non-fiction information books.  Get all the facts in Trains by Gail Gibbons.

A fun read aloud is what you get in I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Trackby Joshua Prince.  Can the ant be saved from the railroad tracks?

Seymour Simon’s Book of Trains is a visual treasure of trains.

Katy the caboose is tired of being at the back of the train.  When she breaks loose in The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet things really become interesting.

If you want a pet train, there are a few things you need to know.  Learn all the tips in How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton.

Enjoy a little poetry in Clackety Track: Poems About Trains by Skila Brown.

Locomotive by Brian Floca is a Caldecott medal book begs you to pour over the illustrations.  Journey back to 1869 for a ride on the then new transcontinental railroad.

Get a Printable Train Books for Kids Book List

Heading to the library, take our printable book list with you.  Just click the button below to download.

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo…have fun reading with the kids.

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