You know if you have a Thomas fan in the family, they like almost any Thomas book. I would not say this is one of the best Thomas books around, but my younger son also loves clocks, so this was a dream combo book! The pictures are fairly cute and not too cluttered. My son's favorite is when Gordon is peeking in the window of Sir Topham Hatt's office---he loves being able to tell it's Gordon when you can only see a bit of him!

This a fantastic book for toddlers when you're trying to teach the concept of time. Each page shows what Thomas or other trains are doing and the event coincides with a particular time of the day starting at 7 am until nap time at 7pm. Our son loved to turn the clock's hands on each page while I read aloud what time it was and what Thomas or other trains were doing. An ideal book for 3 and possibly 4 year olds learning to understand time!

I am nine and when I first read this book I liked a lot. It is the perfect book for early readers. I being a fan of Thomas am very fond of it.The book is about when Sir Topham Hatt asks Diesel to help Thomas. Then Diesel gets into trouble. In the end it shows how Diesel really wasn't bad when he helped Thomas out of the mud.

This book is quite possibly my favorite in the Thomas the Tank engine series. The language is a little less complex than in some of the other books, and the length of the book is just right for the patience of a toddler. It is illustrated, as opposed to the photographs used in some of the other books, and the pictures are cheerful and bright. As can be expected from books in this series, "Thomas and the Naughty Diesel" teaches children of all ages a valuable lesson- that sometimes misbehaving feels bad, and that helping a friend in need can be both redeeming and rewarding.

I think the main message to this story is that children are absolutely wonderful.

In this story, Thomas starts the day sad... he wants to play with the children, but he has to work instead. The happy ending is when he helps his friend (the bus which breaks down) by taking the children home.

Thomas is obviously thrilled to be able to help the children. What a warm, sweet message to give to the young readers!

This is an "I can read it all by myself Dr. Seuss Beginner Book", and it's written as though a young reader should read it, in very short, choppy sentences ("My name is Thomas. Watch me push! Watch me pull!... Stop or go. Help or hurry."

But the actual words used are not those that the true beginning reader will be able to read on his or her own. (station, somebody, coaches, Clarabel, bridge, should, friend, passengers, etc.) It's fine to have very simple sentences for the beginning reader; or to address the book to the not-such-a-beginner-reader. But this book seems to take the worst combination; dumbed down story with too-hard words.

That said, my children really enjoy this book; the annoying aspects only seem to annoy me. And, of course, their opinion is what really counts. The older kids love to read it to the younger ones, and they think it's great that Thomas gets to have his trip with the children.

4 stars because the kids like it so much, and because it really does have a worthwhile message for children.

This book is great for kids of all ages -- our 18-month oldloves it. Unlike many of the other Thomas stories, this one doesn'tdeal with unhappy, grumpy trains all the time. It's a "feel good" kind of story with a good moral that can be read to all ages. We're trying to find other Thomas stories that fit this theme, and are having little luck so far...

My two and a half year old daughter is just starting to get interested in Thomas and trains, so I looked for a book that would give some background information on Thomas and his friends. This is a pretty good introduction to the Sodor Island Railway and the Engines that are Thomas' best friends. The illustrations in this book are captivating, with enough of a mix of new and familiar to keep a small toddler engaged and curious. The story is very simple and each page has only a few sentences. My daughter loves this book and I am basically happy with it. However, if I had been writing this story, I would have included a little something in the beginning about Thomas doubting that he is really useful. His "really useful"-ness is affirmed at the end when he saves the day, but this affirmation seems meaningless because the author never established uselessness as a problem for Thomas in the start of the story. An older child might feel the story is a little hollow.

The pictures in this book are very entertaining for our 2 year old son. He sits through the entire story. Any child that loves trains (or cars, trucks, etc) will love this book!

This is rather young for my son (3) but he still loves it being Thomas and reviewing the numbers can never be bad! It's a nice hard book and I wish I would have had it a year or so ago!

Of all the board books in the toddler Thomas the Tank Engine series, this is my 3-year-old's favorite! The illustrations are so colorful, and the engines and people so expressive, that learning to counting is alot of fun. Your child can count engines, people, and objects associated with a train station. Just the right size for little hands, durable, and priced right for parents who want their child to have various Thomas books.

The stories are good stories,
the pictures are neat, and
the characters are interesting.

This book, though, tends to be written
in a sort of fragmentary style,
leaving out a bit much, and often
not giving a good idea of why one
picture follows another.

On the other hand, my 3-year-old likes
it, like all her other Thomas books.

Do you know of a young child who enjoys the "Thomas the Tank Engine" segments on the PBS show "Shining Time Station"? Does this child enjoy having stories read to him or her? Then "A Cow on the Line" would be a great addition to the child's library. This book features 42 photographs from the Britt Allcroft video productions on its 32 pages. All photos are quite clear. The pictures are well placed to keep the attention of young listeners. Because the text could serve as a script for the television segments, this is a "read to me" book. A strong third- or fourth-grade reader could handle the text, but the sentence structure and phrasing is beyond beginning readers. As listed above, the book contains 4 stories. Only one features Thomas -- Percy and Edward take the spotlight in this book. The stories are true to the nature of the "Thomas" series and are a delight to read. And if your child is like the two year old in our house, he or she won't even mind if you don't sound like Ringo Starr or George Carlin (the video narrators) when you read the stories!

When Thomas gets assigned to the new passenger line, he's so proud that he won't take anyone's advice about taking his time to find the new route. Of course things go wrong and he learns the hard way, succeeding in the end. Nice illustrations complement this lesson on being overconfident and boastful, though I wonder if this is a problem for most kids?

Typical Thomas stays true to type in a story based on the Reverend W.Awdry`s The Railway Series. Colorful illustrations of Thomas and the gang (Sir Topham Hatt looks a bit transformed) grace this tidy little tale, as our loveable but cheeky Thomas learns a lesson. Nearly every child will understand how Thomas` excitement and overconfidence lead him to go too fast and not listen to the good advice of his friends. Everyone has felt that horrible sinking feeling he gets when he doesn`t know where he is, as well as his shame at his behaviour. And we`ll all root for him as he learns his lesson and resolves to become a Really Useful Engine.

Paperback with flimsy paper that doesn't stand up to much wear. Our copy is dog-eared and the back cover is ripped off and that didn't take long.

There is one page per letter with a photo from the televison show depicting the theme of that letter (not a hand drawn or computer generated illustration or cartoon). For example: A is for all aboard and the photo is of Thomas stopped at a station. The photos are great. Every page has one sentence at the bottom that uses the word in context. I do have a complaint that each letter is only shown in the upper case. Despite much room available on the page, when the word is spelled out the first letter is in tiny font just like the rest of the letters. I would prefer if the presenting letter were a larger font to highlight its' use in the word. I was hoping to use this book as a way to teach the letters to my son and this is why I am critical of these factors.

With that said, any little Thomas the Tank Engine lover will absolutely love this book.

Some of the words are a stretch or strange (T is for tracks but then the photo shows Terence the tractor and the sentence is "Terence tells Thomas about his tracks". Why not use T for Thomas (the one word the children are most familiar with), or else use Terence as he is pictured, or just say that T is for Thomas, AND Terence, AND Tracks?

This book has gotten us through some long car trips and air flights.

With all my little criticisms, I feel Iit's low cost justifies its purchase and replacement when it wears out.

Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends from the Island of Sodor introduce ABC's to children. An excellent picture book that is perfect for pre-readers. A must have for any young Thomas fan! Purchase two as it is destined to become "well-loved".

I enjoy Thomas The Tank Engine a lot. When I was younger Duck was my favorite engine (James now is my favorite engine) someone probobly got me this book. When I read it last week, I noticed a few mistakes. One, most of the pictures don't come from the real story. Some of them come from Percy Runs Away, Percy Proves A Point, Pop Goes The Diesel, and Percy and the Signal. Two, with some Thomas books you get exitied ,like you are watching a tape. This one didn't get me exitded. It was okay. Other than those two things it was okay.