Famous Author : Rev. W. Awdry

Reverend Wilbert Awdry was born in 1917 in a sleepy village in England. He used to grow up listening to bedtime stories of steam engines told to him by his father. When he became a father himself, he constantly told bedtime stories to his son, Christopher Awdry, as well. 

It was in 1943 when he drew upon his own childhood memories and improvised on stories of steam engines and wrote them down on pieces of scrap paper. He even made a wooden toy train for his son  one Christmas which was named 'Thomas'. So Thomas the Tank Engine was born. After being persuaded by his wife, Margaret Awdry, the reverend published his first book in the Railway series. It was a huge success! And from then on, until 1972, he wrote a new book every year. In 1983, Christopher Awdry started writing the 'Really Useful Engine' series to entertain his son, Richard. Meanwhile in 1984, Thomas the Tank Engine was shown on British TV and the series became an instant hit. Next stop was America in 1989 and eventually Thomas has appeared in 130 countries worldwide.