To celebrate seventy-five years since the very first Thomas the Tank Engine book was written by Rev. W. Awdry, Egmont has published a book based on a TV episode which sees the Fat Controller heading to London to meet the Queen to collect an award.

On the way Thomas ends up very dirty, as does the Fat Controller, they also help a train in distress, the Duchess of Loughborough which just happened to be carrying some very important people.

It has been a long time since I have read a Thomas the Tank Engine book, give that my youngest is fourteen now. The book has been written by Laura Jackson and is written in the style of Rev. W. Awdry, I must admit I think she did a fine job given what I remember about the original books.

The sizing of the book is quite large, but I like this in a children’s book. The illustrations are all stills from the episode the book is based on and work well.

It is a very lovely story that I am sure Thomas the Tank Engine fans will enjoy. It is lovely to also have Thomas and the Fat Controller getting some recognition for their services and for the Queen to appear too.

The Thomas the Tank engines stories were created by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, who was born in Hampshire in 1911. He grew up close to the railway and was convinced that the steam engines all had different personalities. He used to imagine conversations between them. Later when he was grown up and his son Christopher became ill with measles, Wilbert told stories Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends to entertain him. Christopher asked for more and more stories and Wilbert began writing them down.

The first of the Railway Series books was published in 1945, and Awdry wrote 26 Railway books in total before his son, Christopher, took over the series. There have since been multiple, hugely popular, Thomas the Tank Engine TV series and films.

What did you think of Thomas and the Royal Engine? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!