Customer Reviews

Thomas & Friends: Blue Train, Green Train (Thomas & Friends) (Bright & Early Books(R))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm delighted whenever my 2-year old comes over asking me to read this book. It's a story about "Blue Train" (Thomas) and "Green train" (Percy). Blue train does his job during the day, while green train works at night. They are literally like 2 trains passing in the night. The story is very catchy, with lots of cute rhymes, and in fact I usually sing it to my kids. Kids learn while enjoying this book, as almost all the colors are mentioned, and also many different types of weather (sun, rain, fog), and the fact that both the sun and the moon cast shadows. A must for every Thomas the Tank Engine fan!

This Bright-and-Early book does not have an Accelerated Reading designation. And while it is described by the publisher as being intended "for an even lower age group" than "Beginner Books", my own Mom-Guessimate for the reading level would be 2nd Grade. I say this because the vocabulary is quite beyond any 'beginner' I've known. Here's an example from one page near the end:

Up peeps the yellow sun!
Green train Percy now is done.
Home now to the Shed.
"Peep, peep"
The Shed is where
Percy can sleep.

Harder words include: clickety, orange, trikes, shadows, clouds, crates, stack, presents, and thick.

Now while all pages do not have as much text as the example above, the vocabulary is fairly consistent in it's difficulty.

Four Stars ::: This is a very nice book that tells the story of two friends who aren't on the same schedule. Percy is taking the mail at night, and Thomas is making his runs during the day.

For babies and toddlers there is a lot to talk about: colors and shapes, animals and things like eggs, bicycles and wagons. Fairly advanced readers could find this good practice if they are still interested in Thomas and Friends. For everyone else, it is a good Read-aloud. We liked the rhyme and colorful artwork. [No still photos from the television show in this book.]

Pam T~
mom and reviewer for BooksforKids-Reviews

My two-year-old son is obsessed with Thomas the Train. This book is great for any kid who loves Thomas and his adventures.

There are much, much better books than this one. This is probably the least favorite of both my son and of mine. There is little rhythm. It doesn't rhyme that well (and when it does, its a bad rhyme where it sorta kinda doesn't really rhyme). The writing just doesn't flow like others (for example, 'fast train, slow train' is excellent as is 'stop train! stop!'). Even the story isn't that great. It's barely a story it just talks about Percy delivering mail at night and Thomas running his line during the day. No plot. Save your money.