Illus. in full color. That cheeky blue engine refuses to be sidetracked from his goal of taking schoolchildren home after their visit to the train yard--despite a host of obstacles along the way.

In the early 1940s, a loving father crafted a small blue wooden engine for his son, Christopher. The stories that this father, Reverend W. Awdry, made up to accompany this wonderful toy were first published in 1945. He continued to create new adventures and characters until 1972, when he retired from writing. Reverend Awdry died in 1997 at the age of 85.Owain Bell illustrated Thomas the Tank Engine books and merchandise for ten years, from 1986 to 1996. He lives in Western Australia.