James, who crashed in the last story of Thomas the tank engine, settles down and becomes a very useful engine. He has 4 stories all to his self, James and the Top-hat, James and the Bootlace, Troublesome trucks and James and the Express. In the first story, he and Edward double head a passenger train in which James gets too excited for his own good at the big station and ruins Sir Topham Hatt's Top Hat. Then, he takes some coaches out after being given into trouble by Sir Topham Hatt, who threatens to take away his red coat and have him painted blue. He bangs the coaches so badly that he causes a leak in the pipe which is repaired by, of all things, a passenger's bootlace. He is sent to the shed in disgrace and left there to think about what he's done. But one day, Sir Topham Hatt comes to see him and tells him to pull some trucks for him and in the end keeps his red coat. In the last story, after being teased by Gordon, he pulls the Express and gives the big engine a showing up by proving that he is not the only engine who can pull the Express after all.

Thomas the Tank Engine begins a lovely morning by saying , "hello", to everyone when he passes by a very cross Policeman, who is very tired and cranky. He insists that Thomas is to wear his Cowcatcher. However, when Sir Topham Hatt hears the grief, he employs and assigns Toby the Tram to this line. Sir Topham Hatt believes in Thomas and finds him a hardworking, respectable engine and doesn't make him wear the cowcatcher. Yet by acquiring Tobey, the work gets done on the line. Most of all Thomas, whom everyone thinks has broken the rules, has really obeyed the controller and made a new friend, Tobey. Now, everyone is happy. Peep! Peep!

My three-year old son is an avid Thomas fan and this book so closely mimics the videos that sometimes I can hardly tear him away from the book! It is a great "learn to read" book for preschoolers. Even my 16-month old daughter easily recognizes the characters in the books from those that are in the videos. My son also likes the fact that there are several short stories in this book (great for bedtime! ) For any die-hard Thomas fan this book is a keeper!

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Thomas the Tank Engine and the Great Race was one of her picks.

Let me begin by complimenting the wonderful design of this book. It comes snapped together, and it is strongly enough held that your child will not be able to open it easily by herself or himself until about age two. While together, what you see is the image of Thomas, a steam locomotive, on both sides. On the bottom are four rolling wheels that your child can use to push Thomas all around, making Thomas go. So Thomas will be a fun toy from a very young age.

The innovative design continues when you unsnap the book and open it. The cut-out openings for wheels on each page serve as the area under arches, wheels on Thomas and on Bertie the bus, and other images.

Now, you also have a story that you can read to your child. Many of the words are too difficult for a beginning reader, but many are not. My favorite way to use this book was to teach our daughter how to spot "Thomas" while I followed the words with my finger as I read aloud. Whenever I got to "Thomas" it was her job to say his name. This entailed lots of laughs and happiness both when she succeeded and when she did not. I just waited until she realized she needed to say, Thomas. If you are like me, you can then gradually add other words for your child to read. "Bertie" is a good choice for the second word.

One of the attractions of this story is that it anthropomorphizes a steam engine and a bus. To adults, that is fun. However, to a two year old, it is "magic." Children at that age do not understand how the world works yet, and are open to all kinds of magical interpretations. A book like this one expands their imagination at its most fertile period. By continuing to use the book after they are more literal as a beginning reader, it can help them stay in contact with that early, rich imagination that so many people lose.

The story is filled with many positive examples. Thomas and Bertie the Bus are friends. One day, Bertie asserts that he can go faster than Thomas and suggests a race. Bertie agrees. The stationmaster reminds them to "drive safely" and starts them off. Along the way, they follow that injunction. Bertie stops for Thomas at the railroad crossing. Thomas stops at a station to let off passengers (although he does urge them to debark quickly, but he adds a "please" to that request). Later, Thomas has to stop for water and Bertie has traffic lights to deal with. At the end, Thomas wins the race. But everyone cheers both Thomas and Bertie. The rivalry has strengthened their friendship rather than divided them. This example stimulated many running races with our daughter where she just happened to beat her parents. She loved this.

After you child speaks well and easily, you can use this book to suggest a driving game. Ask you child to pick two cars ahead of you and name them. Then converse with your child to build up a story about the two cars like the race in this book. The two of you can watch them to see who wins the race, and narrate what is going on. This will help your child develop as a story teller, and also help him or her to realize that the world is full of stories. You may also avoid some of the inevitable questions about, "When will we be there?" and "How much longer?"

Have a great time as a parent and enjoy your trips more with your child!

Catch Me, Catch Me is my three-year-old son's favorite book! Using only 50 words, it tells the story of a race between two engines, Thomas and Gordon. It's "catchy" rhymes are easy to remember. The colorful pictures contain other characters from the "Thomas the Tank Engine" series. Especially useful is the back page, which is a set of flash cards of the words contained in the story. Give "Catch Me, Catch Me" to a little one you know -- you'll enjoy reading as much as they enjoy hearing it!

Great preschool bed time book. The book only uses 50 words and they use them over and over. The child becomes familiar with them and is excited to recognize them in the word list at the end of the book. Nice clear, colorful pictures with lots of thing to see, especially if your familiar with the Thomas the Tank Engine series. Teaches a lesson and is enjoyable.

Our two year old loves this book. We read it to him 100 times the first week. He walks around the house asking for it all day long. Go, Go, Go are his new favorite words now!

Thomas the Tank Engine, a classic character by Wilbert Vere Awdry and Owain Bell, is about to embark on a delightful trip on which he carries people and animals through the countryside. This is a great book to read to your toddler to help them associate pictures of familiar people and animals with the sounds they make (moms will get a kick out of the sounds dads make in the book!). The human characters are reminiscent of those in the song "Wheels on the Bus" and the animals, Thomas and the cars he passes on his journey all provide great opportunities for noisemaking fun. The chunky format makes the book easy for toddlers to hold and page through themselves. Don't be surprised if you hear "Honk honk" and "Peep Peep" as your child "reads" to him or herself!

I have 2 yr old twin boys who love this book! I only have to read half the book as they will tell me what noises the people and animals make. We have lots of fun with it.

Definitely one of the better Thomas books available.

This was my son's favorite book from about two years to two and a half. He would insist we read it to him every night as a bedtime story. He loved to make the sounds of all the animals. He has since graduated to Thomas The Tank videos, but he still loves this little book that started it all.

I highly recommend it, especially if your child likes trains.

You can always count on Thomas for your kids to enjoy. His stories are almost always a lesson, but fun in the process. I only wish that there were more tapes and story combinations available. I still do prefer to read to my son, but he also loves to just listen to the story by itself while playing. I hope they come out with more soon.

My 3-year-old son listened to this cassette repeatedly with a walkman when we took a 4 hour flight. A stress-free flight courtesy of Thomas.

My son loves Thomas the Tank Engine and this book, with the cassette, helps him with his pronunciation of the words that he is having trouble saying. I wish that there were more then 4 books on tape with Thomas.

This being the first "Thomas the Tank Engine" book I've ever read. I recognized some stories as word-for-word narrations from "Thomas" videos, but since I haven't seen ALL of the video or TV stories, some stories were new to me. My sons are big Thomas fans, so I know they'll love these books when they get them for Christmas!

This is a good Thomas story book. There is a TV series about Thomas. Then there are vediotapes about Thomas and there are a whole lot toys about Thomas. Chilren like them all. When I bought this book, ha, my three young ones fought for it. And I had to read to them one by one in turn. And I have other Thomas book too. They just can get enough of Thomas.

"Meet Thomas and His Friends" is the perfect book to introduce your baby to these characters. The simple pictures and sweet expressions appeal to babies, as do the bright colors. My toddler has advanced to other books featuring Thomas, but still enjoys the My First Thomas series.

This book is loved by my one year old. The flaps lift in different directions and he never gets tired of seeing who is behind each one. The book is also pretty sturdy for his clumbsy fingers. The pictures are colorful and the text is short enough that he doesn't get bored before turning the page.