The Little Engine that Could

Story

A long and heavy train needs to be pulled up and over a high mountain because its engine has broken down. When all the strong, powerful engines are asked, they refuse. It is Little Engine who agrees and succeeds in pulling the train up and over the steep mountain. Little Engine motivates itself by chanting, ‘I-think-I-can, I-think-I-can, I-think-I-can’.

Why we chose it

An American fairy tale, it was chosen by ‘Jumpstart Read for the Record’ to be read worldwide in 2006. In 2007, it was also named in the ‘Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children’.

Where it came from

Earlier versions appeared in the New-York Tribune as part of a sermon by the Rev. Charles S. Wing (1906). Other versions appeared in Foundation Stones of Success (1910) and in the Kindergarten Review. The story as we know it first appeared as ‘The Little Engine That Could’ in 1920 (My Book House, Vol. 1). Watty Piper’s version illustrated by Lenski is the best-known incarnation. An amended version was published by Platt & Munk in 1954.

Where it went next

This fairy tale is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work. Later versions were written specifically to appeal more to children. A Disney version of the story was published in 1976. It was adapted in 1991 as an animated film (Wales-USA). In 2011, it was adapted into a 3-D film featuring the voice of Whoopi Goldberg and Jamie Lee Curtis (Universal).

Associated stories

An American toy company produces Little Engine trains as an alternative to Thomas the Tank Engine.

In the 1941 Disney movie Dumbo, the circus train chants Little Engine’s motivational words ‘I-think-I-can’.

Arnold Munk wrote under the pseudonym, Watty Piper.