This photographic pictureback includes three great stories: “Thomas’ Milkshake Muddle,” “Toby Feels Left Out,” and “New Engine.” Filled with gentle humor and lots of photo illustrations, these tales are perfectly suited to Michael Brandon’s storytelling on this brand-new CD. When the Reverend W. Awdry began telling his children tales of Thomas the Tank Engine in the early 1940s, he had no idea that the stories would become beloved by millions of children worldwide.
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, better known as the Rev. W. Awdry, was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.
The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further books to the series.
This 24 page book comes with three stories and although they're only eight pages they feel quite long. The writing is very similar to the TV shows -- perhaps just pulled from the scripts. A little tiresome to read out loud and fairly difficult for children under 5 to fully understand although with some explanation they may find them quite enganging. I like that they use a large vocabulary instead of pandering to toddlers. I find the third story suspicious: a new train, Neville, arrives. At first the other trains think that he's friends with the diesels. Rumors spread and Neville is largely despised... so much that Thomas forgets to warn him of a broken bridge. While Neville is about to plummet to his doom Thomas finds out that he isn't friends with the diesels and so decides to save him. Neville is 100% steamie just like them!