The Little Engine That Could Saves Christmas

K-Gr 2–Based on the The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, illustrated by George and Doris Hauman, this is a sweet story of the Little Engine overcoming challenges when Santa gets sick on Christmas Eve. On a snowy night before Christmas, Santa’s elf finds Little Engine to announce that Santa has come down with a bad case of Frosty Frittens, which is something like a cold, but with blue spots, and he needs her to deliver the gifts to the children. Through a series of gentle questions posed by the animal friends riding with her—about finding the right houses, for example, and picking the correct toys—Little Engine always replies enthusiastically, “We think we can!” Howarth’s digitally rendered illustrations nostalgically summon mid-20th-century picture books. As in the original story, perseverance and belief in oneself is the overriding message.