Skarloey - Illustrations by Robin Davies and Phil Jacobs

Based on The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry.
Published by Egmont UK Limited: London, 2008 (2003).

I'm not really sure who wrote this book, as it is based on stories by Reverend W Awdry, and then filtered through the series owned by Guillane (Thomas) LLC and created by Britt Allcroft. The book only tells me who the illustrators are! So, apologies to the unnamed ghostwriter...

There are a number of Thomas-brand stories at my parents' place, and Ezekiel likes them all. Wanting to include at least one of them for this list, I chose Skarloey mostly because one of us pointed out to Ezekil that my name is hidden in the title, and now Ezekiel also points that out every time. He'll point at the title word and say "Skarloey" and then point at it again and say "Karl." He's not quite up to actual reading yet, but he is starting to do a good imitation of it.

At some point I'll add Tacky the Penguin to one of these lists and talk about the lines he has already memorised from that one! If I wasn't determined to keep the entry to ten books and also to highlight some of the books from here before we move on, I would have included it this time.

Anyway, the actual story of Skarloey is a flash-back to 100 years before the main 'Thomas' timeline. Skarloey is one of the first trains shipped to Sodor, and helps to build the tracks he is working on. At first he is too proud to pull trucks, but after being sidelined while he sulks, he reconsiders.

Later on, Skarloey finally gets the chance to take passengers, but is 'so excited' that he bounces on the tracks, and accidentally throws the Inspector off! Skarloey is full of regret, but the Manager helps him out by sending him to get an extra set of wheels, and this stops his bouncing.

A bit different, but a fun train-centric story set in the fringes of the Thomas world.


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