All aboard! We are loading up with train books for kids. We’ve got some titles for toddlers, preschoolers, and beyond. Toot! Toot! All aboard! It’s just one of the many books on Growing Book by Book all about transportation.
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Train Books for Children
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 Toddlers
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.
Make Tracks Trains by Johnny Dyrander is an interactive book that lets little ones drive different trains on on the tracks with the control of a finger. Along the way kiddos will learn about a steam train, freight train, subway train, and high-speed train.
Listen Up! Train Song by Victoria Allenby is a board book full of photographs that invite you to sing to all the sounds of the track.
I Like Trains by Daisy Hirst is all about playing with trains, building trains, and best of all taking a real train to see a special person.
Finn’s Fun Trucks: The Train Team by Finn Coyle let’s little ones lift the durable pages to discover what each train carries inside.
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 inI’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 Train by 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 Track by 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.
A Grand Idea: How William J. Wilgus Created Grand Central Terminal by Megan Hoyt looks at how one of the most iconic train stations in the world came to be. All aboard to New York for this behind the scenes look at how the Grand Central Terminal was created.
Get a Printable Train Books for Kids Book List
Heading to the library, take my printable book list with you. Just click the button below to download.
Chugga Chugga Choo Choo…have fun reading with the kids.
Train Related Posts:
Keep having some train fun with these ideas.
Grab the Preschool Transportation Unit full of train ideas and other transportation activities.
Practice learning how to spell your name with the Learning Your Name Freight Train.
This post first appeared on 2/13/19 and has since been updated.