''Tootle'' () is a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

written by Gertrude Crampton and illustrated by

Tibor Gergely Tibor Gergely ( August 3, 1900 – January 13, 1978) was a Hungarian-American artist best known for his illustration of popular children's picture books. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

. It is part of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. ''The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have b ...

series. As of 2001, it was the all-time third best-selling hardcover children's book in English.

Plot

The protagonist is Tootle, a baby 4-4-2 locomotive attending train school. Tootle hopes to grow up to be the Flyer on the New York-

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

route. His schoolwork includes tasks such as stopping at red flags and pulling a dining car without spilling the soup. His most important lesson is that he must always stay on the rails. Bill, his good friend and teacher, tells Tootle that trains are not professional unless they get 100 A+ on staying on the rails, no matter what. One day, when Tootle is practicing this lesson, a horse challenges him to a race to the river. Tootle is faster than the horse, but loses his lead when he turns a curve, so he gets off the tracks to tie with the horse. In the days that follow, Tootle becomes fond of playing in the meadow and not staying on the rails. Bill quickly discovers what Tootle has been doing. Not wanting to take away Tootle's chance at being a Flyer, Bill concocts a plan with the mayor to put Tootle back on the tracks. One day when Tootle is rolling down the tracks, he hops off to play in the meadow, but sees red flags everywhere in the grass. He grows frustrated at having to stop at red flags, as trains hate nothing more than stopping. Tootle then sees Bill with a green flag over the rails. Having learned his lesson, Tootle gets back on the track and says that playing in the meadow only brings red flags to trains. In response to the lesson learned, the town cheers for him and rewards Tootle the Flyer the route to Chicago. Many years later, an older and wiser Tootle teaches some new locomotives lessons, including "Stay on the rails no matter what".

References

1945 children's books American picture books Little Golden Books Fictional locomotives Children's books about rail transport

Plot

See also

References