The Little Engine That Could
by Watty Piper · first published 1976
50% recommend17% neutral33% critical
Why HN recommends it
A short, familiar picture book about persistence, read aloud to young children. It is a classic on childhood reading lists and a title many enjoy sharing with kids.
Common criticism: Critics say its can-do message oversimplifies that effort does not guarantee success.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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The Little Engine That Could
on “Ask HN: Books about people who persevered when no one else believed in them?” ↗…27. When the Heavens Went on Sale by Ashlee Vance - Space startups. 28. The Founders by Jimmy Soni - PayPal's early days. 29. The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester - Precision engineering. 30. The Little Engine That Could - Children's classic. 31. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - Success mechanics. 32. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight - Founding of Nike. 33. Black Hole Blues by Janna Levin - Building LIGO. 34. Freedom’s Forge…
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗…favorite books to read aloud to my child were from there. Classics are in there... - *Goodnight Moon*, where on your 10th reading you're still noticing little artistic differences from page to page - *Little Engine That Could*, everyone knows this classic and I think it's always the last book they send. But some surprise wins: - My wife loved reading *Love, Mouserella* as theatrically as possible - I loved the art of…
on “Dolly Parton's Imagination Library” ↗"The Little Engine That Could" and "Everybody Poops"
on “Ask HN: What reading material would you provide to a visiting alien being?” ↗…whole thing in picture books. See also Room on the Broom, which is also quite good and reads well. In fact, maybe prefer that one. 6) Lots of the early Golden Books that aren't licensed properties—The Little Engine that Could, et c. 7) Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel 8) The Velveteen Rabbit (beware—it'll make the room a tad dusty) 9) Mother Goose nursery rhymes, enough exposure that they won't miss references to them,…
on “AI is coming for your children” ↗Do anthropomorphic trains count? The Little Engine That Could.
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗…examples, my favorite children's book to read is "The Little Island". Even thinking about reading it makes me feel a little happy. A book that I don't like to read aloud, but like the message, is "The Little Engine that Could" (this version https://www.amazon.com/Little-Engine-Could-Original-Classic/...). I found it a chore to read that book out loud.
on “The Lost Pleasure of Reading Aloud” ↗I think this point is overlooked by the article. There is a little too much of the "Little Engine that Could" which tends to encourage entrepreneurs to ignore disconfirming data from prospects. For me, the key point is to decide what failure looks like before you start (and unexpected success, which for an…
on “The Golden Rule of Startup Success ” ↗You've got to be kidding. Just some re-worded pabulum from the Little Engine that Could.
…practice. Jason highlights the value of getting started, that startups are a "come are you are party" but seems to suggest that passion can substitute for learning from your mistakes. This sounds like the "Little Engine That Could" model (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Engine_That_Could ) of repeating "I think I can, I think I can,..." which is no substitute for learning from your mistakes. What's the best way to…
on “Don't become an expert” ↗We need to talk a lot more about fiction. The Little Engine That Could and The Grapes of Wrath are good and all...
on “One Hundred Books in April from Hacker News” ↗…Moon" then you'll find this to be an absolute treat. It's also a somewhat odd story, but it's the book that I enjoyed reading to my son the most. BTW, the book that I disliked reading the most was "The Little Engine That Could". It felt jarring to read -- like I never could quite catch my breath or my rhythm.
on “The Radical Woman Behind “Goodnight Moon”” ↗Respectfully, I disagree with you. "The Little Engine that Could" says that if you want to do something, and you try hard enough, you will succeed. That's simply wrong. I want to run 100m in 8s, but no matter how hard I try it's not going to happen. But that's not…
…am thankful that you take an interest in your children's activities. From a very early age, we invited virtual strangers and machines into our home. Before my First Communion, my best friends were the Little Engine That Could, Dr. Seuss, Atari 2600, Mr. Rogers, and cassettes from K-TEL. Typically parents may discuss with children what they saw on TV or read in a book, or how their school day went. Have introductions to friends…
on “Sniffnet – monitor your Internet traffic” ↗