The Caboose Who Got Loose

Katy Caboose is tired of being last, and one day a freak accident allows her to realize her dream of peace and solitude. "Bill Peet rides full throttle with a happy storys."--Christian Science Monitor.

Katy caboose doesn’t like her life at the back of the train. Stuck with clouds of billowing smoke from the engine and a bumpy, jolting ride, she longs for some peace and quiet. When her rusty bolts bust loose, Katy finally gets the life she wants in a way she never expected!
This Read-Along Book and CD Favorite includes a paperback edition of the book and a compact disc in a newly designed reusable package. Perfect for car trips, classrooms, and bedtime listening, these recordings feature lively sound effects and original music. The CD includes one reading with page-turn signals as well as an uninterrupted reading.

Children's Literature

Katy Caboose spends all her time trailing behind the rest of the train cars, chugging through the countryside, always looking behind her. Katy is sad to always be moving and only stopping in crowded rail yards. She wishes she could trade places with a little cabin in the woods. One night Katy talks to a switchman's shack perched high on a pole. The shack envies Katy's many travels along the railroad tracks, and finally Katy begins to appreciate her role as a caboose. Then a coupling breaks and Katy gets loose. She finally gets to spend time off the rails in nature and is finally happy. Katy's story unfolds in rhyming text with varied vocabulary and complex sentence structures. Katy, the cabin, and the shack are personified through subtle but effective eyes in their windows. The bright illustrations are cheery and simple. Young readers can follow along with the story by reading the book as they listen to the CD with and without page-turn signals. Music and sound effects add to the energy of the recording. A bonus third track includes a reading of the story Whingdingdilly by Bill Peet. Reviewer: Kristina Cassidy

Bill Peet was the author of 34 books published by Houghton Mifflin. One of these, BILL PEET: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, was named a 1989 Caldecott Honor Book. All of Bill Peet’s books published by Houghton Mifflin Company, including his first book for children published in 1959, HUBERT'S HAIR-RAISING ADVENTURE, remain actively in print today.

In both his career as an author and illustrator of children’s books and in his work as sketch artist and continuity illustrator at Walt Disney, Bill Peet created a menagerie of memorable characters. As he himself noted, "I write about animals because I love to draw them. Most of my animal characters have human personalities, and some are much like the people I know."

At Walt Disney, where Bill Peet worked for 27 years, he was a key participant in the production of classic films such as Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and 101 Dalmatians for which he was not only an artist, but the screenwriter as well.

Bill Peet’s signature style enabled him to create fast-paced stories of fantastical adventure delivered with warmth and laugh-out-loud hilarity. His unfailing humor did not, however, prevent him from addressing such poignant issues as kindness toward others and respect for the environment. Through the exploits of his characters, Peet offered his audience a chance to see themselves and their world through new eyes.

"At some point," Bill Peet once said, "it occurred to me that drawing was something I couldn’t possibly give up, and somehow it must be turned into a profession." He went on to not only fulfill his dream but to introduce generations of young readers to his delightful vision of humor, friendship and compassion.