The 70th Anniversary edition was published on the same day from thirty years, after the television series had made its debut on UK televisions on 9 October 1984. 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. I owned many of these separate story books too, but it's only after finding this collection and rereading them all over again that you realise just how clever these books are. Item: 335120320133 Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete collection 68 books. This complete collection of 68 Thomas the Tank Engine books is a must-have for any young reader who loves trains and adventure. This complete collection of 68 Thomas the Tank Engine books is a must-have for any young reader who loves trains and adventure. With a range of vibrant illustrations, engaging stories and lovable characters, this classic library station box is perfect for pre-school and picture book enthusiasts. Published by Egmont United Kingdom LTD and written by Rev. Wilbert Vere Awdry, this hardcover collection includes books from the Thomas the Tank Engine series. The books come in English and were published in 2002, making them a great addition to any child's bookshelf. Whether you are looking for a gift or simply want to inspire a love of reading, this collection makes the perfect choice.

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. You can absolutely tell the Author was a big fan of Trains, and the research done must have been extraordinary to turn seemingly everyday events on the railways of the time into great adventures, must have taken great imagination! The Japanese version was published in commemoration of the 40th anniversary from the publication of the Railway Series in Japan. 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. The only minuses there are (which are few), are some very advanced railway terminology, outdated phrases (I've never before heard "Play him out" yet it's mentioned countless times in the book), and the artwork - which while charming, can sometimes also look like nightmare fuel!

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. William Middleton | Reginald Payne | C. Reginald Dalby | John T. Kenney | Gunvor and Peter Edwards | Clive Spong | Stephen Lings The endpaper features Bertie with a yellow face, Harold without rotors, Edward on top and bottom left side without his tender and Percy on the top and bottom right side without his face. I also enjoyed reading the afterwards, adding much info & work I didn't know, that went into these books. 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.

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. New types of engines and their railways begin to appear, including the Skarloey narrow gauge railway, the Culdee Fell mountain railway and the Arlesdale miniature railway, all of which are based upon real railways, namely the Tallylyn and Corris railways in Wales, the Snowdon Mountain Railway and the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in Wales. I enjoyed all these new railways and the storylines they brought to the series, but especially liked the stories of the Skarloey and Mountain Railways.

There is nobody whom I would not hesitate to recommend this to. This is the sort of book that parents could read to their children, and still have a great time reading it. These are the types of stories that those children will read and praise when they are older. These are the stories that those children will tell their children. 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. There is a definite storybook feel to the first twelve books, as if it is the perfect English idyll, populated by these sentient vehicles where nothing bad happens, or if it does it is soon resolved and the engine in question learns an important lesson. 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. This collection has all of the Reverend's original Thomas books, which definitely saves hunting them down individually, as they could be worth a pretty penny by now. The stories make up most of the first couple of seasons of the animated Thomas the Tank Engine series, minus the 'Small Railway Engines' & the 'Mountain Engines' which never made into the animated series to my knowledge?

So on to the book - this is a gloriously grand collection of all of the original stories along with the artwork that brought the various engines to life. There are a short afterwards which covers of the Rev Awdry along with the two main artists who illustrated (and brought) the island of Sodor and the various engines to life. Item: 115974210751 Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection by The Rev. W Awdry. The Thomas The Tank Engine Complete Collection. This has been sat on a shelf in the spare room for years now and simply has to go as part of our on-going clear out. The Thomas The Tank Engine Complete Collection. This has been sat on a shelf in the spare room for years now and simply has to go as part of our on-going clear out. Too good to simply bin, it is offered here in case anyone out there can make use. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have. The book measures some 29x22cm and weighs around 1700g. A wonderful collection of stories written by the Rev W. Awdry, focused around the adventures of the various engines and the railways that they run on in the fictional Island of Sodor. Thomas's Christmas Party | Thomas Comes to Breakfast | Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree | Thomas and the Evil Diesel | Thomas and Gordon Off the Rails | Thomas and the Hurricane | Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection | Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection | Annuals | Mini Books | Pop-up BooksWilbert Awdry | Johnny Morris | Willie Rushton | Ted Robbins | John Gielgud | Andrew Sachs | Michael Angelis One thing that did catch me by surprise was that there was such a large array of engines - now again I thought a lot of the engines were creations of the various TV and toy franchises trying to expand and increase their sales of the various characters but no - a very large number of the engines where originals from the various stories. 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.) On the 1996 edition's dust cover, two illustrations from Gordon the Big Engine and Tank Engine Thomas Again appear twice.