The Little Engine That Could facts for kids

The Little Engine That Could is a famous American story that teaches kids about being hopeful and working hard. It started as a folktale and later became well-known through many illustrated children's books and movies. In 2007, teachers voted it one of their "Top 100 Books for Children."

The Story's Beginning

The famous phrase "I think I can" first appeared in print in a Swedish magazine in 1902. One of the earliest versions of the story, called "Story of the Engine That Thought It Could," was printed in a newspaper in 1906. It was part of a sermon by a minister named Rev. Charles S. Wing.

Another short version, "Thinking One Can," was published in 1906 in a Sunday school magazine. This version appeared again in a book in 1910.

In 1910, a different story called "The Pony Engine" was published by Mary C. Jacobs. Another version with the same name came out in 1916 by Mabel C. Bragg, a teacher. She said she didn't create the story herself.

The story first used the title The Little Engine That Could in 1920. It was part of a book series called My Book House, sold door-to-door in the U.S. This version started with a train carrying Christmas toys for children. The story was credited to Olive Beaupré Miller, who was the editor of The Book House for Children. She later believed the story was a folktale, meaning it belonged to everyone.

Who Was Watty Piper?

The most famous version of The Little Engine That Could was written by "Watty Piper." This was a pen name for Arnold Munk, who owned the publishing company Platt & Munk. Arnold Munk was born in Hungary in 1888 and moved to the United States as a child. He hired Lois Lenski to draw the pictures for his book. This popular version came out in 1930.

Later, in 1954, Platt & Munk released another version. It had slightly changed words and new, colorful pictures by George and Doris Hauman. Their artwork helped the book become a classic, like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In 1976, Ruth Sanderson drew new pictures for the book.

What Happens in the Story?

The story is about a long train that needs to cross a tall mountain, but its engine breaks down. Other bigger engines are asked to pull the train. These engines act like people and refuse to help for different reasons.

Finally, a small engine is asked to try. Even though it's small, it agrees to help. The little engine pulls the train over the mountain while repeating its famous motto: "I-think-I-can."

The main idea of the story is always the same: a train is stuck and can't find an engine to take it over tough land. Only the little engine is brave enough to try. By repeating "I think I can, I think I can," it succeeds at a task that seemed impossible.

An Early Version of the Plot

In one early version, a small railroad engine usually worked in a station yard, moving a few cars. One morning, a long freight train asked a big engine to take it over a hill. The big engine said, "I can't; that's too much for me." The train asked other engines, but they all refused.

Finally, the train asked the little switch engine to pull it up the hill. The little engine puffed, "I think I can," and bravely went in front of the heavy train. As it went, it kept puffing faster and faster, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

When it got near the top, where the bigger engines had given up, it went slower. But it still kept saying, "I—think—I—can, I—think—I—can." It reached the top by being brave. Then, going down the other side, it proudly said, "I thought I could, I thought I could."

A Disney Version

A Disney version of the story was published in 1976. In this story, a train full of toys is pulled by a small red engine. It's going to a town over a mountain, but the engine breaks down at the mountain. A toy clown tries to get help from other engines: a shiny yellow passenger engine, a big black freight engine, and a rusty old engine.

The shiny passenger engine and the big freight engine both say no. The rusty old engine is too tired. Finally, a little blue engine arrives. Even though she's just a switcher engine and has never crossed the mountain, she agrees to help. In the end, she successfully reaches the top of the mountain and slowly goes down to the town.

Different Story Versions

Later versions of the story were changed to be more appealing to children. The stuck train became a train full of good food and toys that act like people. This made it seem like the little engine was helping the child reader, making its success even more exciting.

In these versions, a new character appeared: the clown leader of the toys. He tries to find help from several locomotives but is turned away. The number of engines in the story also became standard:

• The happy engine on the toy train that breaks down.
• The proud passenger engine who thinks he's too important.
• The powerful freight engine who feels he's too busy.
• The old engine who doesn't have the strength or courage to help.
• The little blue engine, who always appears last. She might be a bit unsure at first, but she always steps up and saves the day for the children.

In most books, the engines are known by how they look or what they do. They don't have names or personalities beyond their job on the railroad. However, in the 1991 movie, the engines get names and more detailed personalities:

• Farnsworth (the express engine)
• Pete (the freight engine)
• Georgia (the friendly engine of the toy train)
• Jebediah (the elderly engine)
• Tillie (the little engine that could)

The clown was named "Rollo." A sixth engine, Doc, also appeared briefly to help the broken-down Georgia.

Movies Based on the Story

This classic children's story, with its clear lesson, has been made into movies:

• In January 1991, a 30-minute animated film was made. It named the little engine Tillie and told a bigger story about finding yourself.
• In March 2011, a 3-D movie called The Little Engine That Could was released by Universal Studios. It featured the voices of famous actors like Whoopi Goldberg and Jamie Lee Curtis.

"Little Engine" Toys and Train Tours

A real-life, full-size copy of the Little Engine That Could used to travel around the United States every year. This "I Think I Can" Rail Tour visited different tourist railroads and museums. The replica train was built in 2005 by the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania. The last tour was in 2008. The train stopped operating in 2012. As of 2015, the replica is owned by the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and is on display.

The American toy company Whittle Shortline makes wooden toy trains of The Little Engine That Could.

In Pop Culture

The story and its message have appeared in many other places:

• In the 1941 Disney movie Dumbo, the circus train Casey Jr. says, "I think I can!" when going up a hill and "I thought I could!" when going down.
• In the 1977 TV special The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town, an engine named "Chuggs" helps the Easter Bunny deliver candy.
• International motorcycle racer Todd Henning used "I think I can!" as his motto and named his racing team after the book.
• On August 24, 2006, this book was chosen to be read worldwide to thousands of children for "Jumpstart Read for the Record."
• The poet Shel Silverstein wrote a poem called "The Little Blue Engine" that refers to this story.
• The song "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)" by the Quad City DJ's repeats "I think I can!" to sound like a train.
• NBA player Kyle Lowry is nicknamed "The Little Engine That Could" by a sports announcer.
• In an episode of the TV show Married... with Children, a character has to return a copy of the book he borrowed.
• A Far Side comic strip by Gary Larson showed the little engine broken down and asking for money with a sign that said, "I thought I could, I thought I could …".
• In the Barney and Friends episode Who's Who on the Choo Choo?, a train set that references the story can be seen.
• In the Rugrats episode "Angelica Breaks a Leg," a character mentions the title to Angelica.
• In the movie Major Payne, Damon Wayans' character tells his own version of the story.
• Similar stories are found in Choo-Choo, the Little Switch Engine and Peter Pan Records' Puff 'N Toot.