Thomas & Friends
Thomas and Friends was born from Wilbert Awdry’s passion for trains which was passed through many generations, originally as bedtime stories for children. Encouraged by his wife to get his stories published, Awdry’s first book, The Three Railway Engines, was published in 1945. A fictional setting for the stories- the Island of Sodor- was created along with a new book every year for twenty six years. By this time Thomas and his railway friends had become a publishing frenzy. Then in 1983 Awdry’s son Christopher followed in the footsteps of his father and wrote a further 14 books entertaining a second generation of Thomas fans. In the meantime, a television producer had began filming Thomas and Friends as a children’s television programme which instantly became a hit all over the world and over the next twenty years has now been screened in over 130 countries. Children and adults alike were smitten with the little steam train and were videos, train sets, games and accessories were high in demand.