Henry and the Elephant – A Thomas the Tank Engine Storybook

Henry and the Elephant is a Thomas the Tank Engine story from the Rev. W. Awdry's railway series for 5 year olds, with something very big and very cross hiding in a tunnel.

What happens

Thomas has gone off to run his own branch line. That leaves Henry and Gordon with all his work, and they're super grumpy about it.

Then a circus comes to town. Suddenly nobody minds being busy.

The next day Henry takes some workmen to a blocked tunnel. There's something inside. It grunts. It won't move! (And Henry doesn't like tunnels at the best of times.)

So he pushes trucks in, and the something pushes back. Harder. Your reader will probably guess what it is long before Henry does, which is half the fun.

The lines are short and bouncy, with a BUMP and a Whoosh to read out loud. Poor Henry gets splashed before the day's out. Everyone laughs at him, and he grumbles, of course. But there's a lovely little moment at the end about learning to laugh at yourself.

What to read next

If they'd like to know how Thomas ended up with that branch line in the first place, Thomas Gets His Own Branch Line tells the whole story, cheeky tricks and silly mistakes included.