ages 4-8

THOMAS ... THE COMPLETE COLLECTION is beautiful, perfect for your Thomas fan. But not for the youngest ones -- it's too big, and an overwhelming number of stories for the little guys at one time. Here are all the original Rev. W. Awdry stories and all the illustrations from three separate illustrators. (You can see the different styles of illustration.) It's a big, oversize, heavy book -- you're going to have to read it aloud -- and you'll have to adopt the occasional Scottish accent, too! There's a map of Sodor, a foreword by the author, and an afterword by Brian Sibley (author of the wonderful "Three Cheers for Pooh") that includes biographical info on Awdry and the illustrators. Plus, there are a few surprises: Thomas wasn't in the first story. And there's no mention of Sir Topham Hatt in this world where all the engines have names but most of the people don't. I guess "Sir" was a Britt Allcroft compilation of the different controllers. Allcroft, by the way, must be thanked for bringing Thomas back to life in the '80s, and even though the wording of those stories is different, you'll recognize a lot of them in these originals. Get this for your Thomas fan (and yourself -- it's hard to put down!). But also get some of the more recent books that are smaller and designed for young readers.

This is a excellent book and difinative collection of all of the original Thomas the Tank engine stories by Rev. W.V. Awdry. This deals with all the original characters prior to the recent real commercialization of Thomas. It also gives bonus materials about how/why the stories were created, who certain characters were based upon, and the three artists involved. The language is original, done in the colloquialisms of the time in England. Example: pay him out - for - pay him back. Some language we also discourage in our home (eg: shut up) are used, but we live in different times. There are also some hard to pronounce Scottish brogues used when Donald and Douglas are speaking. I had to change some language and pronounciations for my little ones, and me. It's a large, hefty but easy to read book of about 400 pages. There are reproductions of 99% of the original artwork which is colourful and detailed. It is well used in my household. This, like all books, have lead to great quality time with my boys involving discussions, imagination and then Thoams storey making of their own. I highly recommend it

This book is great, it is presented nicely and the stories and many illustrations are excellent. Overprotective parents may complain about darker themes or use of phrases like "Shut Up" but there is nothing I find wrong with that. Do those parents expect their children's whole lives to be sugar coated and sweet? There is a great variety of stories, but the main problem is the lack of the 14 volumes written by the Rev. W. Awdry's son Christopher Awdry. Though one or two of his Railway Series books are in print, (they are Really Useful Engines, and depending where you look, More About Thomas the Tank Engine) most of his books are out of print and hard to find. Having obtained some of them used, I can tell you they are great and if they were part of this book I'd give it 5 stars. Instead, I give it 4 and a half .