Hey Mr. Choo-choo

Hey Mr. Choo-Choo, Where Are You Going? by Susan Wickberg, illustrated by Yumi Heo.

Get ready for a rollicking rhythmic read in this picture book that will have every small train-crazed boy asking for it to be read again.  Again!  And again!  You have been warned.

Each new page starts with the chorus of

Hey Mr. Choo-choo,

Red, white, and blue-choo,

Hey Mr. Choo-choo,

And then asks a question that the rest of the page answers.  So it can be what the train is pulling, where it's going, etc.  And it is all done with a sense of fun, joy and just pure spunk.  You can't read this book without smiling (at least for the first five times.)

The illustrations are wonderful.  Big, colorful, friendly and a little zany.  Train enthusiasts will want to name the types of cars, but that isn't focused on in the text.  It is much more about the rhythm, rhyme and movement.  I encourage you to get the kids doing the chorus with you each time, though that will naturally happen anyway.  Perhaps with movements?

Recommended for reading to toddlers and preschoolers ages 2-4.  Highly recommended as part of a toddler story time on trains.  "I'm saying bye-bye-bye with my bell-bell-bell!"