This book surprised me.  Before I started reading I wondered who was “Little Blacknose”?  Turns out, Little Blacknose was not a who but a what.  This book is told from the perspective of a steam locomotive.  He was known as the Dewitt Clinton (a former of governor of New York), and he was the first steam locomotive to run in the state of the New York.

Reading a story from the perspective of a train was pretty interesting.

“Little Blacknose really loved wood best, good pitch pine, for coal was hard to chew.. Delishshshshshsh-shious!     Delishshshshshsh-shious!” he murmured.

and

“Free!  Free! Free!” he thought to himself.  “I shall run, as the children do.  I shall roll my wheels round and round!.  I shall go like the wind”

Despite the fact that it’s told from the perspective of a talking train, I felt like I learned a lot about the history of trains in the United States.  The book follows the “life” of the train and ends with his retirement in the Henry Ford museum.

Once again, the illustrations were so interesting.

The top of each page was illustrated with a row of trains.

I was surprised by this book, and I enjoyed it very much!