Book excerpt: An all-new Thomas the Tank Engine storybook about Thomas and all his engine friends from around the world! Includes over 50 stickers! Based on the popular Nick Jr. series, train-loving boys and girls ages 3 to 7 will be thrilled to meet Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends from around the world in this Pictureback, which features beautiful full-color illustrations and more than 50 bonus stickers! In the early 1940s, a loving father crafted a small blue wooden train engine for his son, Christopher. The stories that this father, the Reverend W Awdry, made up to accompany the wonderful toy were first published in 1945 and became the basis for the Railway Series, a collection of books about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends--and the rest is history. Thomas & Friends(TM) are now a big extended family of engines and others on the Island of Sodor. They appear not only in books but also in television shows and movies, and as a wide variety of beautifully made toys. The adventures of Thomas and his friends, which are always, ultimately, about friendship have delighted generations of train-loving boys and girls for more than 70 years and will continue to do so for generations to come.