It is said that your favorite childhood books have life lessons you need to learn. "The Little Engine That Could" and "Little Toot" were my favorites.

I was small in stature and identified with Little Toot, the tugboat, and Little Engine, the train, both of whom were ridiculed for not being able to do the work of the bigger, more businesslike tugs and train engines. That is, until a crisis occurred and none of the others could help. Then the Little Engine with its "I think I can...I think I can" and Little Toot with its smoke-belching SOS and its creative way of skipping across the tops of the angry waves, saved the day. All the passengers cheered and the other tugs and engines came to respect their smaller colleagues.

Little Toot and the Little Engine That Could have been my models when life has presented me with daunting tasks. And, like the Little Engine, I have always ended up saying "I thought I could...I thought I could." Little Toot has taught me to use my own unique gifts and to think outside the box.

So what were your favorite childhood books?