Three Railway Engines (Railway Series) [Hardcover]

Rev. W. Awdry (Author), C. Reginald Dalby (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Railway Series

This very first book about the now famous engines was originally published in 1945. Here are the original four stories about kind, hard-working Edward, proud Gordon, and fussy Henry. Watchful readers will recognize a very popular little blue engine hiding in one of the pictures . . . waiting for his own book.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This very first book about the now famous engines was originally published in 1945. Here are the original four stories about kind, hard-working Edward, proud Gordon, and fussy Henry. Watchful readers will recognize a very popular little blue engine hiding in one of the pictures . . . waiting for his own book.

About the Author

In 1944, a country vicar, the Reverend W Awdry, wrote the stories he had been telling his two young sons about a group of engines with very recognizable personalities. In 1945, the first book featuring Thomas and the other Really Useful Engines was published, and in the 60 years since, the tales of these friendly engines have become beloved classics around the world.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375824081
• ISBN-13: 978-0375824081
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,361,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS ONE HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME AND STARTED QUITE A SERIES OF WONDERFUL BOOKS., January 25, 2011

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Railway Engines (Railway Series) (Hardcover)

Back in 1945 when this work was first published books, especially children's books were rather hard to come by and the likelihood of newly written books in this genre being published were quite slim. The reason for this was that the war (WWII) was just over and paper was a commodity that scarce. Governments simply had better stuff to do with the supply which was available.

The Reverend W. Awdry had made a couple or three stories up to tell his son while he was sick. Awdry's wife, who apparently was more astute in such matters than the Reverend, saw the potential and pushed him to publish. Well of course he did and what was created was almost an entire industry based around this particular work. The book being reviewed here is the first in the long, long series which have been delighting kids and their parents and grandparents for around fifty five years now. I see no end to these books. (Note: Many people believe that Thomas the Tank Engine was the first in this series...that is not so...this was the book that started it all!)

Anyway....

This first book includes four stories of three rather remarkable trains who share a train shed. The three trains, Edward, Gordon and Henry. The stores of course center on these three heavily anthropomorphized characters; their adventures, bragging versus reality and such...good stuff that kids love. This original work was illustrated by William Middleton. It should be noted here that the author was not happy with Middleton's work and changed illustrators after this publication. Personally I find the illustrations quite good and for the life of me cannot see why the author was unhappy with them, especially as this first book quite quickly sold over 22,000 copies!

Be that as it may, the important thing to know of this book is that children still to this day love it. I personally am more comfortable with this illustrator's take on the subject than I am on many of the other books in this large series.

The text is quite readable, the illustrations good and this work has stood the test of time. I am not at all sure how many other books this one has spawned, but I do know that every time I turn around, there seems to be more added to the list each year. That is a good long run!

I can well remember having this book read to me as a little one (I fear that was very, very near the original publication date), and I am very please that this one is still around.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Train enthusiasts, February 24, 2006

By 

K. R. Wood (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Three Railway Engines (Railway Series) (Hardcover)

The original installment of the "Thomas the Train" stories (alert--Thomas does not appear in this group of stories yet) introduces Edward, Gordon and Henry. My son adores these and we read them over and over. He studies the illustrations very intently and want to know every detail!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love the original, April 5, 2008

By 

Nancy (Berwyn, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Three Railway Engines (Railway Series) (Hardcover)

I love that this is the original oldy-timey version of the Thomas stories. My son loves the illustrations. The size is easy to handle. There are about 3-4 stories per book.