By Zachary Tan || Photo Credits: Reading Rockets

“He had six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler, and a short stumpy dome,” the beginning of possibly the most iconic of its stories. When you hear those enchanting words, you know you’re in for a wild adventure. From a heroic escape from death to a weary old man given another chance to prove himself once again, the Railway Series has got it all. You may not have heard of this unsung hero of children’s stories, but you definitely know of the television series it spawned, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

Those innocuous stories of sentient locomotives and their hijinks have had immeasurable effects on my personality and myself as a whole to my benefit or, as my “friends” like to say, to my detriment. Those friends of mine can also attest to my englishero-ness, which I partly attribute to my fascination, maybe addiction, to the television series and books.

There are a multitude of reasons why I still come back to a children’s book series despite being in tenth grade, aside from me being a five-year-old reincarnated into a 15-year-old’s body, is the boundless respect the author, Reverend Wilbert Awdry, had for the series, characters, and greatest of all, the readers, like Little Timmy and I. The series treated the reader, whether they be adult or child, with a level of maturity, as Awdry empathized with the poor souls, in the guardians and parents, who would have to constantly read and reread the stories to their children and the conspicuously older man-child sitting next to them. In turn, this led to little old me learning crazy big new words like “indignity”, “deputation”, and “quay”, which I probably misused anyway.

Aside from my apparent unceasing barrage of grammar and spelling corrections, my friends tell me that there’s another reason why they are figments of my imagination, that being my “challenging” personality. There are many great moral lessons in the series, big and small. However, what I admire most about its lessons is their simplicity yet not being spelled out in large bold font. Children may be young and slightly dim, but they are absolutely not complete blockheads who are incapable of critical thinking. The slow-paced nature of the Railway Series’ stories also allows for complete comprehension of the stories, which is why it has always appealed to a younger demographic and those on the autistic spectrum. This all shows the love Awdry had for not only his stories but for the children reading his books as well, even if one or two may end up a schizophrenic nerd.

All this talk about an old children’s book series from World War II is all for me to say that books are for everyone. If even a self-avowed non-bookworm like me can find a series or two I like, anyone can. Oh, who am I kidding, it’s obvious that you should buy me the Complete Series this Christmas. Thanks!