sorry, I just don't think it's right to condone sneaking pets aboard against the rules ( )

After reading Mr. Putter and Tabby Take the Train, I had mixed feelings about the story. The clear message of this book was obviously to not let anything get in the way of something you wish to do. I did enjoy the illustrations, and the writing, I was skeptical about the plot.

For starters, the message this book sends is very true, however, how this book perceives the message is wrong. It started out that Mr. Putters next door neighbor and friend, Mrs. Teaberry, had an idea about taking a train someone. Mr. Putter really liked the idea, so the two headed off to the train station… with their animals, a bog and a cat. Mrs. Teaberry thought because in 1938 pets were allowed on trains, it was ok nowadays too. Well, to their surprise, no, animals were not allowed. Well, the two snuck on the animals because they wanted their pets to go along with them. I just do not think it is a good message to send to children that sneaking and doing the wrong things is such a good thing to promote.

However, I will say that I did enjoy the illustrations. They went along with the mood of the story very nicely. The details and color were very subtle on each page. I will say, even though I was not a huge fan of the message of the story, the pictures at the end of the story when the dog was hidden in Mr. Putters bag and his tongue was sticking out was quite cute and funny. Furthermore, the illustrations went hand and hand with the writing of the book. For example, Zeke [the dog] was standing beside her wearing his traveling jacket. It had lots of pockets for bones and balls and little boggy lollipops”… and the picture was just that – the dog with a jacket full of what the text said. And the pup was so happy too in this illustration. Throughout the whole story, the expressions on both, Mr. Putter and Mrs. Teaberry were always so cheerful, giving the story a good feeling. So, to say the least, the writing was very engaging and had a great flow to it as well.

Cute little story! ( )

This is one of the stories from the Mr. Putter and Tabby series. It is about a man named Mr. Putter who gets invited by his neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, to go on a train ride for an afternoon of fun. Mr. Putter loved the idea because he loves trains. He asked if they could bring their pets, Tabby the cat and Zeke the dog; Mrs. Teaberry explained that she was sure that pets were allowed. Once they arrived at the train station, they were told that pets were not allowed; however, this did not stop them. They returned one hour later with Tabby in a basket and Zeke in a bag. They had the best train ride of their lives.
I thought this was a really cute chapter book with great pictures. I would read this to children in kindergarten through third grades; however, I think it is more geared towards second and third grades because it is a chapter book. A great time to read it is when students are learning about different types of transportation because it is all about riding on a train. In addition, it could be read when learning about animals because two of the main characters are a dog and a cat. ( )