The Little Engine That Could (Original Classic Edition) [Hardcover]

Watty Piper (Author), George Hauman (Illustrator), Doris Hauman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: March 1, 1978

The story of a train filled with toys and gifts for little boys and girls that breaks down before reaching the children. After asking several passing trains for help over the hill, a little blue train agrees to help the stranded toys. Even though she is small, the blue train tries her best to bring the toys to the children on the other side of the hill.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The unknowing progenitor of a whole generation of self-help books, Wally Piper's The Little Engine That Could is one of the greatest tales of motivation and the power of positive thinking ever told. In this well-loved classic, a little train carrying oodles of toys to all of the good boys and girls is confronted with a towering, seemingly impassable mountain. As nicely as they ask, the toys cannot convince the Shiny New Engine or the Big Strong Engine--far too impressed with themselves--to say anything but "I can not. I can not." It is left up to the Little Blue Engine to overcome insurmountable odds and pull the train to the other side. The Little Engine That Could is an entertaining and inspirational favorite, and the Little Blue Engine's rallying mantra "I think I can--I think I can" will resonate for a lifetime in the head of every child who hears it. (Ages 4 to 8))

Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap; Complete original ed edition (March 1, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0448405202
• ISBN-13: 978-0448405209
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.4 x 7.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Children, Fantastic for Adults January 24, 2007

By Alouette1

Format:Hardcover

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!

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaks the language barrier July 23, 2001

By Alyssa A. Lappen TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

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

84 of 97 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Which Engine Do You Remember? March 20, 2003

By Craig Rucin

Format:Hardcover

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...