Thomas & Friends: The Big Book of Engines
The Big Book of Engines is what every Thomas fan needs!
Inside you’ll find everything there is to know about Thomas and his engine friends on the Island of Sodor: fun facts, Thomas trivia and railway rivalry. With a page devoted to each character and including all the famous engines in the Steam Team, this book really is the ultimate guide to the world of Thomas and his friends.
Thomas has been teaching children lessons about life and friendship for 75 years. He ranks alongside other beloved characters such as Paddington Bear, Winnie-the-Pooh and Peter Rabbit as an essential part of our literary heritage.
The Thomas the Tank engines stories were created by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, who was born in Hampshire in 1911. He grew up close to the railway and was convinced that the steam engines all had different personalities. He used to imagine conversations between them. Later when he was grown up and his son Christopher became ill with measles, Wilbert told stories Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends to entertain him. Christopher asked for more and more stories and Wilbert began writing them down. The first of the Railway Series books was published in 1945, and Awdry wrote 26 Railway books in total before his son, Christopher, took over the series. There have since been multiple, hugely popular, Thomas the Tank Engine TV series and films.