Three Railway Engines: No 1
Jan 4th, 2010 | By Chris | Category: Train Books
Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s over fifty years since the publication of the first Railway Series stories by the Rev. W. Awdry. To celebrate, the publishers have reissued them in six special books, each containing four famous tales of Thomas and his friends. Larger and chunkier than the originals, these books feature all the original text and illustrations and are redesigned in a way that makes every spread unique. Easier to hold and look at, this format is ideal for parents and children to share together.
Contained in this volume: “Thomas and Gordon”, “Thomas’s Train”, “Thomas and the Trucks”, “Thomas and the Breakdown Truck”. (Ages 3 and over) — Philippa Reece
Three Railway Engines: No 1
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The first book about The Fat Controller’s Railway (thought hear his The Fat Director)is a true classic. Meet Edward the Blue Engine, Gordon the Big Engine and Henry the Green Engine (At the end he gets painted blue.)
The stories are:
Edward’s Day Out
Edward and Gordon
The Sad Story of Henry
Edward, Gordon and Henry
Rating: 4 / 5
Sorry, what’s Phillipa Reece on about? Her comments are confounded with some modern TV-inspired title. This is the Original, No. 1 of the Railway Series by the Rev W Awdry. We are introduced to Edward, Gordon and Henry in that order, but NOT Thomas! He had to wait until book no. 2!
Rating: 5 / 5
The Three Railway Engines was my first ever book and now at the age of 35 I read it regularly to my daughter who is nearly two.
Our copy is a 1960’s hardback, which features additional illustrations by me, aged about six. Despite this vandalism I have always cherished the stories, particularly the one where Henry goes into a tunnel and won’t come out.
There used to be a record of the book, read by Johnny Morris of Animal Magic fame. Reading the book again to my daughter I can still hear Johnny’s voice.
I would recommend this book to any parent who remembers the stories from when they were young. The only thing I can’t get my head around is the popularity of Thomas. I had (and still have) seven of the books and he is just one of the engines. Each character has their own individual traits, in this particular book you have Henry whose vanity gets the better of him, Gordon who is the pride of the line and Edward who is a friend to everyone.
For those who follow the stories ,note that at this stage in the series none of the engines had numbers. Also there are three other unnamed engines in the shed and Henry gets painted blue at the end of the book to match Edward and Gordon.
Worth reading again and again, no matter what age you are!
Rating: 5 / 5