Tootle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tootle is a children's book written and illustrated in 1945 by Gertrude Crampton. It is part of Simon and Schuster's Little Golden Books series. As of 2001, it was the all-time third best-selling hardcover children's book in English^[1].

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

1 The story
2 Criticism
3 External links
4 References

[edit] The story

The protagonist is Tootle, who is a baby locomotive who is attending train school, hoping to grow up to be the Flyer on the New York-Chicago route. His schoolwork involves such tasks as stopping at red flags and pulling a dining car without spilling the soup. Most important, however, is that he must stay on the rails no matter what. One day while unsupervised, Tootle leaps off the rails to race against a horse. He finds that he enjoys chasing butterflies in the pasture and picking buttercups, and neglects his schoolwork. But Tootle is eventually reminded of his long-term goals by the people of the town, and chooses to leave the pasture behind.

[edit] Criticism

The moral of Tootle has gone out of fashion since the book was first published in 1945. Many parents object to the message that little trains must "stay on the rails no matter what", considering it inflexible and authoritarian. They see the story as a tragedy in which Tootle, an individualist, is forced by the townspeople to leave his happy pasture and to return to his societally-approved role.

However, a close reading of the story reveals another side. Tootle's real love is speed; he wants more than anything to go fast and to be a grown-up train who speeds from Chicago to New York:

"How would you like to grow up th be the Flyer between New York and Chicago?"

"If a Flyer goes very fast, I should like to be one," Tootle answered. "I love to go fast. Watch me."

He raced all around the roundhouse.

When Tootle leaves the tracks to play in the meadow, he is sacrificing his long-term happiness for immediate gratification. Beset by red flags in the meadow, he realizes that achieving his true goals will require hard work and sacrifice of some of today's pleasures.