The Complete Collection (Thomas the Tank Engine)

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I can’t really name one favourite book in the series as they all offered different things to me, so will give a list of those that I enjoyed the most.

The author of the Thomas books was a clergyman, and I'm torn between two thoughts. On the one hand, it's very tempting to believe that they are intended as Christian allegory. On the other, an interpretation along those lines almost inevitably ends with the conclusion that the Fat Controller is God. I'm not a Christian, but even I find this a little blasphemous. Or perhaps it just shows that I will never be a Really Useful Engine. Like a lot of young British lads, I absolutely loved Thomas the Tank Engine, and enjoyed the TV series, being the late eighties baby that I was.The illustrations by C. Reginald Dalby, John T. Kenney and Peter and Gunvor Edwards helped to cement this feeling, and both the writing and illustrations proved to be very comforting to me. I also enjoyed the fact that most of the stories were based on real railways and incidents which had happened.

One of the suprise aspects was Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine - a set of stories focusing on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex, I remember visiting that as a kid. So yes, as I've already pointed out a little - I really enjoyed how authentic the stories were (minus the talking locomotives obviously!), and there's enough differing stories to not make them boring (not every story is introducing a new engine etc.) I enjoyed the earlier books in a different way to the later ones, as they were escapist to me, portraying a world which never perhaps really existed, but also enjoyed the complexity of the later books as well, as the emotions of the situations the engines found themselves in, became more prominent. To be clear, the title "The Complete Collection" refers to the fact that these are all of the Reverend Wilbert Awdry's Railway Series books. His son, Christopher, has written several more afterwards. Though the book says "Thomas the Tank Engine" on it, these stories are not only about him, but also the rest of the Really Useful Engines on the Island of Sodor, with No. 1 sometimes not appearing for a full book. Another thing is that people should stop harping about the name "The Fat Controller". Yes, it is referring to a man's rotund stature, but all the same it's a children's book, referring to a fictional controller. If you prefer, while reading this, just say "Sir Topham Hatt" (his actual name) in your mind or out loud, if you are reading it.

Surely someone has done a detailed exegesis? I'll confess that I am, indeed, very curious about the details. For example, the episode my kids liked most when they were at the appropriate age. They unwisely fill Thomas up with water from the river. He comes over feeling all funny, so they look in his storage tank. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of books, and both the Rev W. Awdry’s writing and the illustrations helped to whisk me away to the Island of Sodor, to become engrossed in the adventures of the various characters. I also found the section at the end of the book detailing the lives of Rev. W. Awdry and the four illustrators to be extremely interesting. With the numerous books written between 1945 - 1972 it was interesting to see how Adwry evolved the series with many new engines introduced over time, whilst the more popular characters like Thomas had additional stories focusing on them. So like I say when I read the various children books - I still have so much to learn from the classics what ever they are.