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| Author | Brian Floca |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Brian Floca |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Picture book |
| Publisher | Atheneum Books for Young Readers, An imprint of Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing |
Publication date | September 3, 2013 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 64 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-4169-9415-2 |
Locomotive is a 2013 children's book written and illustrated by Brian Floca. A non-fiction book written primarily in free verse, the book follows a family as they ride a transcontinental steam engine train in summer of 1869. The book details the workers, passengers, landscape, and effects of building and operating the first transcontinental railroad. The book also contains prose about the earlier and later history of locomotives. The book took Floca four years to create, which included a change in perspective from following the crew of the train to following a family. Floca conducted extensive research including his own train ride and consultation with experts to ensure he had the details all correct.
The book was well received by critics and won both the Randolph Caldecott Medal for "most distinguished American picture book for children" and a Robert F. Sibert Honor, for nonfiction writing. Both the book's writing and illustrations drew praise, with particular attention given to the way Floca designed the book. This design, combined with the second person narration, created the effect of making the readers feel like they were actually partaking in the train journey themselves. While most critics praised Floca's combination of pictures, information, prose, and free verse, for some critics the overall effect made it hard to identify who the target audience was for the book.