Average Customer Review:
 ( 103 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 42 found the following review helpful:
 Great for Children, Fantastic for AdultsJan 24, 2007
By Alouette1
"alouette1"
My dad was dying and I bought several books to take to him at the hospital. This was one of them. When I flew down to see him, the word was that he still had hope. Within thirty minutes of my arrival, we found it not to be true. I still read him this book, just as he used to read it to me. It was a joke for us during his last days. Even when he had break through pain and I wasn't allowed to give him more medicine, we'd read this and he'd squeeze my hand while he tried to get through just a little more time. Sometimes he told me the story to keep his mind focussed.
Before he died he told me to finish my degree. I told him it would be hard because I have a big family, so much going on-- and he smiled and said, "Let me tell you about a train that couldn't get over a mountain. It had great things on it, toys for the good boys and girls, milk for their dinners. It was hard to get this train loaded with good things over the mountain but there was one little engine. . ." Three months later I am in college and this little engine goes through my mind a lot. The story is one of my children's favorites and they don't know why I can't read it without crying!
This book appeals to everyone for different reasons, but the results are the same. An iron will allows us to overcome any obstacle!
30 of 31 found the following review helpful:
Breaks the language barrierJul 23, 2001
By Alyssa A. Lappen
Few books are so gratifying to read to children for the first time. A child does not even need to understand English to "get" it. On first meeting our four-year-old son, who had never heard a world of English until then, I put him on my knee and impersonated each engine character chugging through these pages.
He was scared and shy, but he loved the "characters," which I could only differentiate for him by sound, and he especially loved the famous repeating line "I think I can."
As my whispers rose to crescendo, he squealed in delight. Nowadays he reads much harder books before going to sleep at night. But he likes every now and then to come back to this one: He well remembers the first moments of bonding with me, and with this book.
--- Alyssa A. Lappen
65 of 76 found the following review helpful:
 Which Engine Do You Remember?Mar 20, 2003
By Craig Rucin
I wanted to buy this book for my children because it was my favorite as a kid. However, when I read the book I was surprised because it wasn't what I remembered. After doing research on this, I discovered there was another version of this story, "The Pony Engine" by Wonder Books, which I purchased used. This was the version I grew up with. What's the difference? The "Watty Piper" version makes the good engines girls and the bad engines boys and the version I grew up with does not make any [gender] distinction for the engines. If you are looking for the same book you grew up with, you may want to consider which version you want to read to your kids. Which is the true version? That is debated and you can read about it...
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
What a great book!Oct 12, 2004
By c2
Trains, most kids love them and mine is no different. What a great story this is - a true classic and if you don't have it in your library, shame on you! When the little engine gets up the hill, it's just really neat to see the expression on little ones' faces as the engine takes the toys and food to the kids that are in need. Even Dumbo's train says, "I think I can, I think I can..." What a timeless message for everyone and a great way to teach kids the importance of helping one another.
13 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 Too bad it is abridgedAug 22, 2001
By Elizabeth G. Melillo
"gloriana"
The current self-help genre tends to be dwelling on hurts and self-pity, then finding magical solutions. Our Little Engine just has healthy self-confidence and determination. And please don't stress even that when reading it to the kids who will love it, since they find their own more imaginative interpretations.The unabridged version is a lifetime favourite of mine, and, for classroom use or that with older children, find a copy at all costs. This version does retain much of the essence, however, and is great for the pre-school set. The only "negative" I can think of is that the kids so love the repetition that parents may grow a bit tired of the daily requests for it to be re-read, especially if the particular child wants to hear only certain sections (I knew one who always wanted "the clown part," the other "the food part.") The same enjoyable repetition makes this a favourite story to read to children in primary grades. Yes, be sure you don't stop the kids from all joining in "I think I can..." This remains one book that every favourite kid of mine receives as a present. If it disappoints any of your children, that will be a first, in my experience!
See all 103 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
based on 103 reviews![The Jungle Book (Classic Books on CD Collection) [UNABRIDGED] (Classics on CD)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415MfKTMb2L._SL75_.jpg "The Jungle Book (Classic Books on CD Collection) [UNABRIDGED] (Classics on CD)")
