The Train of States by Peter Sis

Sis, Peter. (2004). The Train of States. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Grade Level:
I would recommend this book for students in grades K-6.

Author Credibility:
Peter Sis thanks the “fact-checkers” for the book. This shows that other people checked his facts. This book is a Notable Children’s book for 2005.

Summary:
This book presents each of the fifty states as a car on a train. Each page tells the state, where the name comes from, state nickname, state capital, the state flower, the state tree, the state bird, and a fun fact. The car of the train is illustrated with different aspects from the state. The caboose of the train is Washington D.C.

Standards:
Social Studies
-People, Places, and Environments

Illustrations:
Illustrations in this book were done by Peter Sis. They consist of drawings that represent each state. They were done with black lines and watercolors.

Access Features:
*A Note About the Illustrations- This section gives the students a key to the symbols used in the book and additional information about why certain drawings were included on the state’s car.

How I would use the book in the classroom:
I would use this book when studying the states. This is a good introduction to the states but the illustrations could lead to more research. I would have the students examine the illustrations and research why certain things were included.

My response to the book:
I enjoyed this book. It had a lot of good information in it, and it presents a lot of different avenues for more research. One thing I did not like about the book was that the states were not in any order that I could see. I kept trying to figure out what order the author was using throughout the book. This book could be used with a wide variety of grades.

Related Texts:
The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller
*The Once Upon a Time Map book by B. G.
*Adventure Tales of America: An Illustrated History of the United States, 1492-1877 by Jody Potts

Other
The verso page shows a train traveling down the tracks. On the bottom of the page there is a classroom with a teacher teaching about the United States. Through the windows you can see the train coming.