The Diesels are playing tricks again! (Thomas & Friends: 'Arry and Bert - Brigitte Aubert)

Member Name: sewbizzie

Product:	Thomas & Friends: 'Arry and Bert - Brigitte Aubert
Date:	05/07/08 (102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good for Thomnas Fans

Disadvantages: None

'Arry and Bert is a fun short book in the my Thomas Story Library. It is number 31 in the collection. The cover of the book has a picture of both 'Arry and Bert and above this there is a yellow banner with the title in red lettering. The back cover of the book is also yellow and has small pictures showing other titles available in the collection.

THE STORY

The book starts with an introduction from the Fat Controller. He tells us how 'Arry and Bert are diesels and that they love playing tricks on the steam engines and getting them into trouble.

The story then starts with is being Halloween on the Island of Sodor and the engines were enjoying picking up the passengers and seeing them dressed up as funny things. That evening Thomas and Emily had to go to the yard to collect iron trucks from 'Arry and Bert and deliver them to the harbour before sunrise. Percy was thankful that he had not bee picked for the job as he thought that Halloween was scary.

At the end of the day when the other engines returned to the shed Emily and Thomas set of to collect the trucks. Percy warned them to be careful saying that it can be dark and creepy at the yard after dark. Thomas replied that there was nothing to be scared of and there certainly isn't any such thing as ghosts. Emily also said that ghosts wer4e just silly make believe.

Thomas and Emily raced across the island to the yard, Emily and Thomas thought about how quiet and dark it was being out at night. They finally arrived at the yard to collect the iron trucks. Would they be able to avoid on of 'Arry and Bert's practical jokes or would the joke backfire of 'Arry and Bert and leave them being scared?

MY OPINION

This is a great book for any Thomas or indeed train fans. The book introduces us to different characters in the Thomas collection which is a nice change.

The book has been written in a very simple to read way and it does not us any large words which younger children would struggle to understand. The story is accompanied by very nice detailed pictures which I find help to keep my 3 year old interested in the book.

The book has been laid out in a very nice simple way with the writing on plain white pages on the left hand side of the book and the illustrations on the right hand side. The text which has been used is a very nice size so new and beginner readers will find it very easy to try and read this book independently.

The book can be read in about 5 minutes but you can make the time last longer by talking to your children about the things which they can see in the pictures. Also and the beginning and end of the book there is a fun picture showing the station on the Island of Sodor and lots of other things around it so this is also good to use to get your children to try and spot things and to tell you about what they think is happening.

INFO

The book was written based on the television series by the Rev W Awdry and has been illustrated by Robin Davies and Jerry Smith. The book was published by Egmont UK Limited.

The retail price for the book is £2.99 but we got our one from Tesco for £2.00. There are a total of 50 books in the My Thomas Story Library with this one being number 31.

If you would like any further information on this or any book or character in the collection then please visit www.thomasandfriends.com

Summary: Short story for all Thomas Fans