Thomas the Really Useful Engine to the Rescue!

When he was little, my brother Nathan adored Thomas the Tank Engine, and the two of us used to watch his show on PBS often, getting a big kick out of Ringo Starr's narration and laughing at all the "cross" engines with their round, pouty faces. When a show is set in a place called "Shining Time Station," you know that no trouble is going to last for very long, but it was always fun to see how Thomas and his friends handled their unique setbacks.

In Rev. W. Awdry's Thomas' Christmas Delivery, illustrated by Tommy Stubbs, Thomas has a number of important stops to make before he can get home to the station for the traditional stocking hanging and a nice Christmas Eve snooze before awaking to a glorious gift from Father Christmas. Because he is determined to be a "Really Useful Engine," Thomas puts aside thoughts of Christmas morning, focusing instead on getting food to Community Hall, care packages to children at boarding school and gifts to patients at a children's hospital.

Along each leg of the journey, the weather gets snowier, so that by the time he reaches the hospital he's in the middle of a full-blown blizzard. What's more, Sir Topham Hat asks him to make yet another special delivery before he heads home. Will Thomas manage to arrive home in time to hang his stocking?

Because Thomas, as a train, is devoid of limbs, any story about him making deliveries must of necessity be a tale of cooperation. Thomas has the first half of the job, but he can only succeed in his mission if the people where he stops are willing to unload the boxes he's carrying. Thus, Thomas' Christmas Eve travels really are a community effort.

The prose is very simple, with the repetition of Thomas' "Really Useful Engine" mantra reminiscent of "I think I can" in The Little Engine That Could. The colorful illustrations are fun, especially the sparkly cover, and there's a great giggly moment when we learn just what it is Thomas so desperately wants for Christmas.

Nathan hasn't been obsessed with Thomas for quite some time, but I know from the number of kids who peruse the train calendars at the kiosk where I work that enthusiasm for locomotives is still quite common among youngsters, especially boys. If there's a little train lover in your life, give the gift of a Really Useful Engine this Christmas.