Tell a story about the locomotive—the little engine that could
The Little Engine that Could is an illustrated children’s book that was first published in the United States of America in 1930 by Plat and Munk. The story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work.
In the tale, a long train must be pulled over a high mountain. Larger engines are asked to pull the train; for various reasons, they refuse. The request is sent to a small engine, who agrees to try. The engine succeeds in pulling the train over the mountain while repeating its motto: “I Think I can.”
“I think I can,” puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great, heavy train. As it went on, the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, “I think I can; I think I can; I think I can.”
As it neared the top of the hill, which had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, “I think I can; I think I can.” It reached the top by drawing on bravery and then went on down the hill, congratulating itself by saying, “I thought I could; I thought I could.”