"In an author’s debut made to be chanted aloud, variants on the title question draw responses from a locomotive chugging its way along: “I’m puff-puff-puffin’. In my smoke-smoke-stack. Bells are clang-clang-clangin’. I’m on the good track!” Using paper collage and broad strokes of paint, Heo depicts the huffing steam engine pulling coaches, cargo and milk cars (and, in a nod to tradition, a caboose) along the track, up and down hills, past stylized farms and towns—finally dropping off a crowd of young passengers at the beach before rolling onward. Children will happily clap along to the steady (but never monotonous) beat, and younger trainiacs will clamor for repeat ride-ride-rides. (Picture book. 4-6)"
Kirkus
"As red, white, and blue Mr. Choo-choo chugs from a city to the sea, he answers questions about his load, what he sees, and where he’s going. Wickberg uses rhyme and repetition to entrance listeners. Mimicking the cadence of rail travel, the patterned text describes the voyage: “I pass cow-cow-cows. On the plains-plains-plains. Across the lake-lake-lake I see other trains.” From clanging bells to tunnels, the verses capture train-lovers’ favorite details, including radical movement over slopes and a canyon-spanning bridge. Heo’s collages and oil paintings are chock-full of friendly facets that will keep children coming back. Done in a primitive style, the artwork sports a striped coal car, a robot toy, a billboard of a fish, and a lamb rolling in the meadow. Despite the happy ending at the seashore (with a dog enjoying a boogie board), readers will be anxious to climb back on Mr. Choo-Choo for another energetic ride. Sometimes it seems there can’t be enough train books to fill requests. Luckily, this one is worth the trip." –Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
School Library Journal
(April 2008)
