The Cranky Day and other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories (Thomas & Friends) (Pictureback(R)) [Paperback]

Rev. W. Awdry (Author), Random House (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2000 | Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Pictureback(R)

Join Thomas & Friends for three exciting adventures on the Island of Sodor. These fun-filled train tales are sure to please boys ages 3-7.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Thomas and the Really Useful Engines are set for three new adventures: Cranky Bugs, Put-Upon Percy, and Lady Hatt's Birthday. Filled with wonderful photos from the critically acclaimed television series Shining Time Station, this Pictureback® will be a must for Thomas fans everywhere.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (April 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375802460
• ISBN-13: 978-0375802461
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the same as the previous pictureback books from R.H., July 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cranky Day and other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories (Thomas & Friends) (Pictureback(R)) (Paperback)

Back in 1993, 4, and leading up to 6, Random House published about 5 or 7 pictureback books from the Thomas series, from the era of Ringo Starr narrating. The main difference between those books and "The Cranky Day" is quite disappointing. "The Cranky Day" (which is even titled wrong. [Cranky Bugs]) is written straight from the vhs tape, as if the closed captioning was copied and pasted into a book. Nothing is explained, and I am not exaggerating. If you haven't seen any of these stories yet, you'll be very, VERY confused when you hear the dialect of an engine say "LOOK OUT!" or, "DON'T MOVE", then to see an image, of what might be happening, with no reasonable explaination given. There never is a sentence in the book saying: "Percy had helped lift Cranky up with a rope, but foolishly forgot to detach it." or something with reason. Overall, it's still an okay book. but I am disappointed that Random House copied straight from the tape...yuck!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You'll be cranky!, July 31, 2004

By 

D. Esselman (Appleton, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cranky Day and other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories (Thomas & Friends) (Pictureback(R)) (Paperback)

Please don't confuse this Read To Me series with other Thomas the Tank books. For instance, Catch me, Catch me is called a Pictureback Reader, and although it is meant for 4 or 5 year olds to learn how to read, my 21 month old loves it--the extremely simple text is all her attention span can take. The Cranky Day, however, has a lot of writing and is meant for the longer attention spans of 3 or 4 plus year olds. I don't like the tiny photos for pictures where the text takes up just as much room as the photos, and I agree with another reviewer that the photos are dark. The full page drawings in Catch Me Catch Me are much better, as are the simplistic drawings in Thomas the Tank Engines Big Blue Treasury. Depends upon the age of the child I guess, when it comes to selecting Thomas books!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Story needs editing, June 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cranky Day and other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories (Thomas & Friends) (Pictureback(R)) (Paperback)

While my three year old son recognizes his favorite Thomas characters, this book is poorly written and edited. The first story, "Cranky Bugs" is especially annoying because little sensitivity was used to match the pictures with the text. It is bad enough that the text is taken straight from the video tape, but some editing would greatly improve the stories. How sad that the Britt Allcroft empire has reduced the original, wonderful stories from Rev. Awdry to such rubbish.