Dr. Donna's Review

Themes & Other Things

This delightful story about the ever popular Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends will appeal to both boys and girls in the three to six year age group and to many of their older siblings. The storyline is simple enough for young children to follow but rich enough to engage all age groups.

The characters grapple with several important and age-appropriate themes across the course of the story:

• Recognizing and giving names to feelings – Thomas feels jealous when Stanley is brought in to help with the restoration of Great Waterton.
• Acknowledging that how one feels contributes to one’s behavior and to the actions that one takes – Thomas’ strong feelings about Stanley lead him to do some silly things. He goes too fast, topples off the track and has to go to the repair yard. When he returns, he wants to show everyone that he is a better worker than Stanley so he tries to pull too many freight cars at once; they uncouple and crash into the tower knocking it down. Thomas feels bad because he ruined everyone’s work. Next, he tries to haul away the debris from the fallen tower and ends up lost in an abandoned mine shaft.
• Accepting responsibility for one’s own actions – After Thomas has been rescued from the mine shaft, he realizes how he has been acting. He says “How could I want to be more important than anyone else? We are all important!”
• Recognizing and acknowledging the feelings of others – Stanley notices that Thomas goes off to be by himself. He realizes that he has upset Thomas and hurt his feelings.
• Showing that one can bounce back from setbacks and failures – Once Thomas gets out of the scary abandoned mine shaft and thinks about how he has been acting, he is ready to accept Stanley’s friendship and work with him as a member of the team.
• Making and meeting commitments to the group – All of the friends work together to restore the village of Great Waterton and prepare for Sodor Day. Everyone has their own unique job to do.

These six themes deal with behaviors and skills that children need to be aware of as they venture beyond the world of family into the worlds of school, friends and community. The six themes offer opportunities for good discussions with children as we will see in the next section about Talking Points.

Things to Talk About

• Help children recall the basic plot line and main points of the story: Everyone is getting ready for the Sodor Day celebration. Stanley, a new tank engine is brought in to help. Thomas feels jealous of Stanley. His jealousy causes him to do some silly things that lead to accidents. When Thomas has to go to the repair yard, Stanley is put in charge of the job. Again, Thomas feels bad so he tries to show what a good worker he is and tries to do too big a job. Thomas gets lost in an old mine shaft. All the others come looking for him. Stanley is the one who finds Thomas. Thomas and Stanley apologize to each other. They work together to get back to the village. Everyone celebrates a happy Sodor Day
• Ask children to talk about how Thomas felt when Stanley came to help restore the town. Have them give names such as “jealous,” “upset,” “angry” to the feelings that Thomas had.
• Ask children to talk about Stanley. Was he a mean tank engine or a nice one? How do you know? If he was not mean, why did his coming make Thomas feel so bad?
• Help children understand that Thomas’ feelings contributed to his behaviors. Because he was jealous and upset, he did things to show off, things to prove that he was a good worker. He went too fast. He put too many freight cars together. He was reckless. His reckless behavior led to accidents and got him into trouble. Help children understand that strong feelings can be triggers to actions. When one feels very strongly about something, one has to stop and think before acting out. When we understand and talk about our feelings, we are less likely to act them out in inappropriate ways.
• Ask children to recall how Thomas felt when he got out of the old mine shaft and knew he was safe even though he was stuck in the mud. Help them see that Thomas stopped to reflect on how he had been acting, that he accepted responsibility for his own actions.
• Ask children how Stanley knew that Thomas felt bad. (Stanley saw Thomas go off to be alone.) How can you tell when another person feels bad? What things can you do to help someone who is having a hard time?
• Help children talk about how Thomas changed when he realized how he had been acting. Draw out the idea that Thomas could forgive himself and forgive Stanley and get back to being a good friend and a good citizen.
• Talk about all the different kinds of machines that were needed to restore Great Waterton. Draw out the idea that it takes a lot of different talents working together to do a big job. No one can do it all alone!

Activity Ideas
Have children draw pictures of their favorite character from the movie. Write the name of the character on the picture. Post it for everyone to see.

Help children make up a story about Thomas and Stanley in which Stanley gets jealous.
How does Stanley show it? How does Thomas handle it?

Have children tell you a story about themselves at a time when they felt jealous of someone. Write the story in booklet form. Have the child illustrate it.

Great Waterton is a historical town in this film. It couldn’t survive because of changes in the community. Explore the historical sites in or near your community. Help children understand why people like to restore historical sites.

Learn New Words
Help build your child’s vocabulary by reviewing and discussing these, and other, words from the movie:

• Brambles     
• Restore & Restoration
• Berth
• Shunt

Book Suggestions
Here are some books that you and your family might enjoy reading together:

“A Bargain for Frances” by Russell Hoban. (About jealousy)

“Freight Train” Written and illustrated by Donald Crewes (About the world of trains.)

“Amos & Boris” Written and illustrated by William Steig. (About friendship)

“Leon and Bob” Written and illustrated by Simon James (About insecurity)

“Frederick” by Leo Lionni. (About working together)

“The Giant Carrot” by Jan Peck. (About cooperation)