Locomotive enthusiasts will learn about 26 train types, such as an incline train or top-and-tail train, or specific trains, such as the California Zephyr or the Glacier Express, in this wide-format picture book. The digitally rendered illustrations are warm and inviting, and the compositions vary widely over the pages, one for each letter. While this successfully showcases some great train facts, it's less successful as an alphabet book. Inconsistencies in how the letters are presented or included in the illustrations may be confusing for young ones just learning the alphabet. That said, there's a wide variety of information th general and specific out trains here, and a list at the end goes into more detail about each of the 26 entries, which come from diverse locations and serve different purposes. While this book would not be a first choice for teaching the alphabet, it is successful in engaging readers and inviting them to explore the world through trains.

A is for Auto Train / Load your car on the track.

PreS-Gr 1 A cheerful rhyming text and painterly illustrations created in Adobe Photoshop offer young readers a different train for each letter of the alphabet. The simple language is straightforward without letting the rhyme become cloying: "G is for Glacier Express,/a scenic, alpine glide./H is for Hurricane Turn./Wave a flag to catch a ride." Each train is featured on its own page, allowing the page turns to reveal the next type of train. The book concludes with a spread with factual information on each of the trains depicted, further enhancing the book's appeal to train enthusiasts. VERDICT Pair this with Donald Crews's Freight Train (Greenwillow, 1978) and Margaret Wise Brown's Two Little Trains (HarperCollins, 2001) illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, for a high-speed storytime. Lisa Kropp, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY