Choo Choo by Petr Horacek

Choo Choo by Petr Horacek

Rating: 4.5 stars

Poor Kiefer doesn't get many new books.  But thanks to the library, he now reads some books new to him!  In the "monkey see, monkey do" vein as my friend Felicity says, Kiefer has picked up on Ben's modus operendi in the library: Grab some books and put them in the library bag.  Repeat every ten seconds until the bag is almost too heavy for Mommy to carry.  (Meanwhile, sweet Lorelei has chosen one single book, plunked her little body in a big bean bag, and is reading that one book until we tell her it's time to check out.)

So Kiefer chose this book and I LOVE it!

It's a simple book with cut outs within the sturdy pages--the tops of the pages are shaped like mountains (my heart is happy at the thought of any mountains) and there is even a cut out when the train goes through a tunnel.  The words are simple, the images great, and the tunnels are fun to peek through--Kiefer's an easy laugh like that (shouldn't we all be?).

The Georgetown Loop Railroad.  Sigh.  Gorgeous, ain't it?

I love the book because it reminds me of Colorado, when our young family flew to one of my favorite places on earth to see the mountains last summer.  This trip, taken when Kiefer was just 4 months old, still holds Lorelei and Ben's imaginations.  They talk about it, draw pictures about it, and ask when we're going back.  Not soon enough!

There were many great parts of it, but everyone loved the historic train ride along the Georgetown Loop in Colorado.  Check it out here.  Kiefer slept most of the way on my chest, and my husband snapped pictures of Lorelei and Ben's awe-struck faces as they soaked in the sights and smells as the train chugged along the tracks.

I might have to buy this book for Kiefer...really, for myself...because it brings back such good memories each time I read it.  But the book ends when the train arrives at the beach!  Why?!  It should end somewhere in the mountains, where it begins!

Lorelei reads  Choo Choo to Kiefer.