Customer Reviews

Thomas the Tank Engine Story Collection (Thomas & Friends) (The Railway Series)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

These are not the railway series stories. They have been re-written to go with the 'Thomas & Friends' franchise. Rev. Awdrey's introductory notes have been rewritten, too.

We bought this book to replace ours when it wore out from being read so often, but we will have to return it, since it is not the book it claims to be. The Fat Director/Fat Controller has been replaced by 'Sir Toppam Hat' and the trucks are now freight cars.

If you are looking for 'Thomas & Friends' stories, then this will probably be fine for you, but if you wanted to read to your children the stories that Rev. Awdrey wrote, be aware that these are not it. You can find them here:Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (Railway Series)

This book is great! The illustrations and layout are warm and inviting making it easy to see and read. There are so many stories within this book that you really get your money's worth and then some. There is also a built in ribbon placemarker so you don't lose your spot. This must have every Thomas story ever written all in one big hardcover high quality book! We love it. For those who prefer to shelter their children from bad behavior may not like the Thomas stories. I have heard that complaint a lot about Thomas. Personally I think these stories provide a great way to teach our children why these behaviors aren't good in society. Any train who has an undesirable behavior always ends up getting his own in the end and I think that shows children that is doesn't pay to behave in some of the ways the trains do.

I fear being one of the few to not be crazy over this book, but I have to admit that this book is far from being my top pick from our son's "library."

The stories themselves are great - we'd have no Thomas the Tank Engine without them, after all - and the illustrations are good as well. However, I feel like there is a pretty big text:picture ratio such that this book is not as engrossing to a young child, even a Thomas devotee, as one might expect. This is less and less of a problem as my child gets older, but when we first started to read this book - somewhere between 2 and 2 1/2 - my son would rapidly lose interest in the stories, look away from the book, squirm to get off my lap, etc. Now that he is just a week shy of 3, it seems he has grown into this somewhat, but I still have a problem with the book itself, physically speaking.

This is a BIG book.

I like to read to my son sitting in the glider, with him sitting in my lap. This lets him see the pictures and become familiar with the words as I read them. It is rather akward and uncomfortable for me to hold this particular book in this particular fashion, due to its size and weight. I have to either hold it up, which gets tiring on the wrists and forearms very quickly, or I have to rest it in my son's lap, which makes him tell me to get it off (to such a small person, it probably feels like it is crushing him). I feel like this book is more suited to sitting next to your child's bed and reading aloud, every so often turning the book to show the pictures, but I prefer to hold my child in my lap and will probably do so for a good while yet.

We have since gotten a few of the thin, square, soft-cover "picture back" Thomas books and these seem to work a lot better for us. They are not the "original" stories (at least, the ones we have aren't) but they are still entertaining and feature all of the same beloved characters (and them some!) The drawings are nice and there seem to be more illustrations per section of text. Plus, they are a lot easier to hold at the same time you are holding your child, so story time can be relaxing and enjoyable. I suggest starting with those, and moving on to this book as your child gets older.

A previous reviewer said that this was a complete collection with original drawings - and while it is with original drawings, this is NOT a complete collection. It is fourteen complete books of the twenty-six written by Rev. W. Awdry.

We had decided to buy this over the out-of-print Thomas collection because it was cheaper, new, and we could live with (though not happy with) things like "trucks" being changed to "freight cars" or "Fat Controller" being changed to "Sir Topham Hatt".

However, upon receiving the book we were very disappointed by two things and will be returning this book and buying a copy of the out-of-print collection (Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection).
1) This collection only has 14 of Rev. Awdrey's books. The OOP one has all 26.
2) More importantly, this book butchers many (most?) of the illustrations. Many illustrations are cropped to a zoomed-in circle focusing on the engine's face. Other illustrations have their borders cropped. In yet other cases, an engine is photoshopped out of the illustration and is just shown against the plain page instead of the original background. As we view the Thomas illustrations to be on a par of importance with the stories, this is a dealbreaker for us.

This is an excellent book both from the standpoint of the writing and it is produced in a quality binding that will last for many years. My grandson is only 2 years old, but he is a very big fan of Thomas. As he grows in his ability to read he will be able to view the excellent illustrations and begin to read the accompanying words at his own pace. The book, if properly maintained, should be a good one for him to pass down to his children...it is that well made.

This is a complete collection with original drawings. This includes the little train at the bottom of the page that progresses from left to right as each story progresses.

A bonus is a beautiful Island of Sodor map in the inside covers. Many, if not all, of these stories have been animated in the PBS show Thomas and Friends. The originals are really great stories for reading and have some twists such as an early black James and blue Henry.

My son is only 23 months, and he LOVES Thomas! I had gotten him a very nice board book with rhymes about all of the engines, and he has learned all of their names...he also has several of the wooden trains, and knows them all...I got this book for him thinking that I could read it to him in a year or so, and he could learn to read the stories himself...he always asks to get this book down and he will carry it (it's very large and heavy for a little guy!) around the house and sit down and leaf through the pages and study the pictures...

The book is beautiful...it has a papter cover, but when removed, the book itself is red linen and embossed with silver, and it is very well made...the pictures and pages have a nostalgic feel, and I can't wait until he will sit still long enough to let me read the stories to him!!! He is familiar with most of them from the TV series, but there are a few that are new to me... I think this book will be around for decades...and I hope that he can pass it along to his children someday...Excellent book...I can't say enough!

I purchased this book for one of my children to read to them before bedtime. As it stands now, it is more fun for him to read to me. Great book for spending quality time with family.

I bought this book for my young brother, and I was happy to see how beautiful it is upon its arrival. As an artist, I love the fact that the illustrations are all the originals, and they're absolutely beautiful. Of course the stories are great, always have been, and are in a nice sized typeface for younger children (Kindergarten-1st grade appropriate, I think). I hope this is a book my brother will cherish even after he grows up. Fantastic.