Henry and the Flagpole, book review

A short story ideal for all Thomas The Tank fans. Easy to read and forms part of the Thomas story library.


Henry and the Flagpole s a small hard back book which forms part of the Thomas and Friends library. This was a gift for my little man from Santa when he visited at school so this made the book even more special to him. We have over the last 2 weeks spent so long reading and re-reading the book and looking at the pictures.
The story is about Henry who is asked to collect a new flag pole for a castle where a large banquette is being held but things are not simple for Henry as he has a run in with Cranky and looses the flag pole. Can Henry save the day and get a flagpole to the castle on time or will the banquette be without a flag?
The story is very good and one for all fans of the series. We found it was very easy to read and enjoyable enough to keep his attention for the whole reading time. The pages are set out in a very nice way. They are all a different colour and has the text in black ink on one part of the page and an illustration on the other part of the page. Some of the colours are quite dark so the text is hard to see at times but once you have manage to focus on it then it can be read with ease. It is a good size which means my 8 year old can read it with ease.
Throughout the story we have speech marks which means that one of the characters are speaking and we love to make voices for the characters which adds to the enjoyment of the book for all of us. The words are all quite simple and basic which means it is easy for children of all ages to follow and understand.
The illustrations are nice and they are actual real images of the trains and surrounding area instead of cartoon pictures so this makes it much easier for the children to recognise who and what we are reading and speaking about. There is quite a lot of detail in the pictures and this means we have lots to talk about and can have fun spotting things and colours when we have finished the story.
The book is a hard back which means the cover can not be ripped but the pages are thin paper. There is a glossy finish to the pages but they can still be torn easily if care is not taken when turning them. We have had a few small accident with my youngest trying to turn the pages himself as he gets a little rough when trying to turn just one of them. The book is a nice size measuring 18 x 12 by ½ cm which means it is easy to carry around and it is not at all heavy.
The book was published by Dean and there is a retail price on the back cover of £2.99. I have seen these books in shops such as The Works for around the £1 mark which I feel to be a much better price as the collection is rather large.
I am happy to give this book a good 4 stars. I have dropped one star due to the thin paper pages which are hard for small hands to turn and do rip easily. I am sure that all Thomas fans and children between the ages of 3-8 would love this book.