Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, better known as the Rev. W. Awdry, was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.
The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further books to the series.
I have some mild concerns about the potential use of hallucinogenic substances by the artist of this book--between Sir Topham Hatt crossing his fingers behind his back when saying something to children ("Yes, children, this candy is completely safe!"), distressed children sitting in the back of a truck (kidnap victims, perhaps?), and an old woman passed out in the back of a car who appears to be on the way to having her body dumped into a river, there's some shenanigans going on here.
That said, the book becomes much more fun to read when you point out these interesting situations to your 2.5-year-old.
Fully detailed illustrations with sparse text. There is usually one other character on each spread to find as well as a variety of flowers and birds scattered throughout the busy scenes. I just noticed Sir Topham Hat is carrying around a bucket with Thomas painted on it. I wonder if Schylling still makes those? http://www.schylling.com/products/pro...
The description listed above pretty much sums up the entire text of the book, minus the bit about the ducks (which are a bit of a non sequitur anyway).