Thomas books. Anyone else lose the will to live/read to the end.

[dragonbutter]

But my boys always want me to read them to them.

DH laughed as i was reading it to my 18m old and muttered 'i'm so fucking bored' as i turned the page.

Why are they so popular?
or maybe it's just in my house.

The worst thing is, I'm sure some of the stories where they're horrible to each other have in the past put ideas into my son's head where previously the the thought woudln't have occured to him.

eg. where they all laugh at Harvey and take the piss out of him because he "looks different". Not sure my son would have laughed at anyone "different" in the first place. He isn't that sort of child. And also, in the end they only accepted Harvey because they found he was useful in an emergency! What message is that sending out to kids - if a new kids starts at school and physically looks a bit different, he or she is bound to have a hidden talent somewhere and be a bit useful, so whatever you do, don't tease them as they'll make you look stupid with their astounding ability to do X, Y and Z. No pressure on the poor kid then.

I guess I am rreading too much into these stories.

snort.
curly, i'm so glad i'm not alone.

Twentypence, yes, what IS the draw to formulaic stories? It's like Scooby Doo - it's ALWAYS the fairground owner doing it for the insurance, yet kids still watch each episode like they have no idea whether it is a real ghost or not.

Thankfully mine have grown out of the Thomas stage, but I ABSOLUTELY hated those books when they were small. I never even bought any, goodness only knows how they found their way into the house.
Tedious, hectoring, with plots as dull as dishwater.
The only reason they are successful is because of all the associated merchandise, which might be fine on its own but inevitably leads back to the original stories.
And any boys named Thomas get all this stuff thrown at them in their formative years then they end up dying to shake off the type casting ! (IME)

You could be onto something there, twenty - were they originally intended for infant or even junior school aged boys? And they have all that 1950s morality about not making a fuss or being sensitive or anything which doesn't really sit very comfortably with current values.

I love the original Thomas books for nostalgic reasons. My father used to run the railways (well, a chunk of British Rail) and drive steam engines so it's a piece of my childhood. My parents knew Wilf Awdry and his stories are largely based on real events.

The one about the little lost engine whose shed is covered by soil slipping down the mountain and everyone forgets that there was ever an engine shed still makes me a little moist-eyed. (Prince is living happily ever after on the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales - I'm probably the only person on this thread who cares but hey, thought I'd mention it just in case...)

(Curly, I'm bloody sure Harvey is an invention of the current owners of the rights.)

So boring, too long, kids love them

Edam!!!

My dad and dh read them once they could read at that level. So I'm guessing they were meant for boys over say 8 years old as the original stories are long and have multi syllable words.

The formulaic thing helps with confidence - once they know the characters and understand that good will triumph over evil, there will be a baddie introduced in chapter two and a chase in chapter 4 and it will all come right in chapter 8 children will overlook the odd word or concept they don't understand.

If I read chapter one of any book - ds will read the rest.

Tankie.......I suspect by your posting name you have some owning up to do.......

bump

I absolutely loathe them. Ours are all hidden on top of a wardrobe where ds1 can't see or find them.

The original ones are bad, they're like Mafia stories about trains.

But the new ones are worse. They've randomly added in the crappest female characters ever, and the plots make no sense at all.

I assume Steve Cole is minted - DS1 went through a phase of adoring Astrosaurs, and also Cows In Action. They're ok, though, not that butch, reasonably silly.

We have a boxed set, which has been well-used. When I had to read them out loud I'd ruthlessly edit as I went along. But I do like them, having train-spotterish tendencies. I once took a copy along to the Blubell Railway and got madly excited when the real Stepney steamed up