In this book, The Old Steam Engine, who knows the real stories of what really happened in those fairy tales we all hear, tries to set the record straight. He is, in fact, the real "Little Engine that Couldn't." When a little girl named Regan happens upon the old steam engine, he is an abandoned and broken down steam engine. But he begins to speak to her. He tells her that she has heard the wrong stories about what happened to people like "Little Green Riding Hood" and "Snow Purple." He tells the little girl that Little Green Riding Hood was not helpless and did not need a woodsman to save her. So, too, Snow Purple did not need to marry a prince. The real stories of the fairy tales tell children that real people are the heroes of the stories. The uniqueness of the stories appeals to adults as well as children so that the adults reading the stories will find them fun to read and to discuss with the children.