Few things capture a preschooler’s imagination quite like a train. With their powerful engines, long lines of cars, and exciting journeys, trains have been a favorite childhood fascination for generations. Preschoolers are naturally curious about how things work, and trains are fascinating machines. They move along tracks, travel to different places, and make memorable sounds that children love to imitate. The familiar “choo-choo” and “clickety-clack” sounds add excitement and encourage participation during storytime. Here are 15 train stories for preschoolers that your children will be sure to enjoy. All aboard for storytime!
15 Train Stories:
1. Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Dusky Rinker —
In this soothing bedtime story, an assortment of animals load up the train cars. Rhyming text and beautiful pictures make this a preschool favorite. The animals works hard loading ice cream, paint, toys, and more into the train cars. Preschoolers will love the turtles loading up the racecars! This sweet story ends with the tired crew going to bed.
2. Turkey Train by Steve Metzger —
In this non-holiday story, a turkey family takes a train trip to the snow. Told in rhyming text with humorous illustrations, preschoolers will enjoy the turkeys’ travels and their snow-day fun! It might even inspire some to want to play outside too! Steve Metzger has several other turkey books too–check your library for his other books.
3. The Goodnight Train by June Sobel–
All aboard! The Goodnight Train is heading off for dreamland and sleepy children are welcome to join. The engineer is loading the train with coal and children are loading the train beds with their favorite stuffed toys in preparation. Whimsical pictures and short rhymes will keep preschoolers interested in the train’s bedtime journey.
4. The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper–
In this classic children’s story, a little train filled with toys is stuck and can’t get to the children waiting on the other side of the mountain! Who will help? The new shiny engine doesn’t want to help; neither does the big engine or the rusty old engine. Just when it is looking hopeless, the little blue engine comes along. While she is not very big and has never been over the mountain before, the little blue engine is determined to try! “I think I can. I think I can,” the little engine says. Very slowly, puffing and chugging along, the little engine and the toys on the train make it over the mountain!
5. Freight Train by Donald Crews–
The board book version is a lot of fun because the pages are expandable so children can interact with the book! Plus, this book is great for working on color identification too! The bright colors, bold shapes, and fun interactive pages make this a preschool winner.
6. Tootle by Gertrude Crampton–
In this charming Little Golden Books story, a happy little train named, Tootles, loves to leave the track and chase butterflies around the meadow. This book has a lot of words, but it has a great message about following one’s goals, even if they change, and using teamwork to achieve them. I like that it models learning from mistakes and working well with others.
7. Thomas’ ABC Book by Rev. W. Awdry–
Thomas the Tank Engine continues to capture children’s imaginations. In this Thomas adventure, children are introduced to the alphabet through short sentences for each letter. Full of train words and Thomas’ friends that go along with each letter, making this book a must-read for young Thomas fans!
8. Stanley’s Train by William Bee–
This is a cute story about Stanley, a hamster, who runs a train with his friend Charlie. All aboard! Learn what is involved with getting the engine ready and the passengers comfortable on the trip. The young passengers get to take a turn shoveling coal, pulling levers, and blowing the whistles — a child’s dream! The bold pictures and easy to understand text make this ideal for preschoolers who want to learn more about trains. The author gives clues about the train’s destination. Can you guess where they are going?
9. Where do Steam Trains Sleep at Night? by Briana Caplan–
My son loves this book! It is full of “baby” trains and “parent” trains, who are helping their little ones get ready for bed. The trains go through a similar bedtime routine as children do, where they put away toys, take showers, read books, and close their eyes for bedtime. Each spread features a different type of train from steam trains to monorails, to freight trains, trolleys and more! My son loved looking for the little mouse engineer on every spread.
10. The Little Train by Lois Lenski —
Join Engineer Small as he drives his train from Tinytown to the city and then back again. It’s a busy day full of stops to pick up passengers and cargo. Toot, toot! This book is the perfect length for preschoolers and includes charming, old fashioned train pictures.
11. . 1, 2, 3, To the Zoo: a counting book by Eric Carle–
Hop aboard this train headed for the zoo! Each train car holds animals to count (numbers 1-10). The story ends with all of the animals home in the zoo. Count them again just to be sure!
12. Trains! by Susan E. Goodman–
This book is for the serious train fans, featuring realistic looking trains of all different types. Learn about diesel, electric, and electromagnetic trains. This book is full of passenger and cargo trains, and trains that go super fast!
13. Fiona’s Train Ride by Richard Cowdrey–
The animals at the zoo are so excited about the new baby red panda! Fiona and her friends (a sloth, tortoise, cardinal, and skunk) want to visit the baby, but the zoo is a big place and its too far for the tortoise and the sloth to walk. It’s time to take the zoo train. All aboard!
14. Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown–
My son really likes this book. It has a sleek “new” engine and old steam engine, both of which are headed west. Margaret Wise Brown, author of Goodnight Moon, writes very rhythmic and soothing stories that preschoolers love. Filled with fun train sounds and great images of a cross-country journey, this book really kept his attention as we read it over-and-over again.
15. Pete Cat’s Train Trip by James Dean—
Preschoolers’ favorite cat, Pete the Cat, is going in a train trip to visit his grandma. During the trip Pete gets to take a tour of the train, learn about the engine, and he even gets to blow the whistle! This short story is perfect for children who can’t sit still for too long.
Disclaimer
Check your library for these and other train-themed books. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading.
More Transportation Fun!
Songs and Rhymes:
Transportation Songs: fun songs about things that go (including trains)
“Here is the Engine” Rhyme: a train themed finger rhyme
Stories:
Rocket Stories –9 awesome stories about rockets, spaceships, and UFOs!
Tractor Books— 8 preschool level tractor stories.
