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''The Little Engine that Could'' is an illustrated children's book that was first published in the United States in 1930 by Platt & Munk. The story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." ==Background== The story's signature phrases such as "I think I can" first occurred in print in a 1902 article in a Swedish journal. An early published version of the story, "Story of the Engine that Thought It Could", appeared in the ''New York Tribune'', 8 April 1906, as part of a sermon by the Rev. Charles S. Wing.〔 A brief version of the tale appeared under the title ''Thinking One Can'' in 1906, in ''Wellspring for Young People'', a Sunday school publication.〔 This version reappeared in a 1910 book, ''Foundation Stones of Success''.〔 Another version was published under the name ''The Pony Engine'' in the ''Kindergarten Review'' in 1910, written by Mary C. Jacobs.〔 A different version with the same title ''The Pony Engine'' appeared in a magazine for children in 1916 under the name of Mabel C. Bragg, a teacher, but she "took no credit for originating the story."〔 The first time the story appeared in print with the title ''The Little Engine that Could'' was in 1920 in a set of books entitled ''My Book House'' that was sold in the US via door-to-door salespersons.〔 The ''My Book House'' version began "Once there was a Train-of-Cars; she was flying across the country with a load of Christmas toys for the children who lived on the other side of the mountain."〔 The story was labeled "As told by Olive Beaupré Miller"; the first edition gave credit to Bragg, but subsequent editions did not as Miller subsequently concluded that "the story belonged to the realm of folk literature."〔 The best known incarnation of the story ''The Little Engine That Could'' was written by "Watty Piper", a pen name of Arnold Munk, who was the owner of the publishing firm Platt & Munk. Arnold Munk was born in Hungary, and as a child, moved with his family to the United States, settling in Chicago. Later he moved to New York. Platt & Munk's offices were at 200 Fifth Avenue until 1957 when Arnold Munk died. Arnold Munk used the name Watty Piper as both an author of children's books and as the editor of many of the books that Platt & Munk published. He personally hired Lois Lenski to illustrate the book. This retelling of the tale ''The Pony Engine'' appeared in 1930, with a title page that stated "Retold by Watty Piper from The Pony Engine by Mabel C. Bragg's copyrighted by George H. Doran and Co."〔 In 1954, Platt & Munk published another version of ''The Little Engine That Could'', with slightly revised language and new, more colorful illustrations by George and Doris Hauman.〔Bernice E. Cullinan, Diane Goetz Person. ''The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature''. Continuum International Publishing Group, 1 August 2003. (Pg. 634 )〕 Although there had been many previous editions of this classic story, "It was the work of George and Doris Hauman that earned ''The Little Engine'' the title of being worthy to sit on the same shelf as ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''".〔 A 1976 rework featured art by Ruth Sanderson received a lot of attention at the time of its release, in part because the art reflected "the stereotypes of masculine strength and feminine weakness in vogue when it was written."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Little Engine That Could」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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