Reviewed with Lois Lenski's The Little Fire Engine.PreS. These two new board books are based on Lenski's picture books with the same titles, originally published in the 1940s. In Fire Engine, Fireman Small drives his little fire engine to a house fire, where he rescues the inhabitants and douses the flames. In Train, Engineer Small drives his little passenger train from Tinytown through the countryside to Union Station. Some lines of the stories and illustrations have been omitted and other minor changes have been made in the these editions, but each book ends with one of the series' familiar tag lines, such as And that's all about Fireman Small! The colorful, childlike pictures have definite appeal for the very young. Although the text is a bit long for many babies and toddlers, these colorful board books might still hold the interest of avid train and fire engine enthusiasts.

Recently reissued with the original gray-toned illustrations fully colored, these two books are now available in board book editions, as small and sturdy as their compact little protagonists, Fireman Small and Engineer Small. [Review covers these titles: The Little Fire Engine and The Little Train.]