| Christopher Awdry | |
| Birth Name: | Christopher Vere Awdry |
| Birth Date: | 1940 7, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Devizes, Wiltshire, England |
| Occupation: | Author |
| Education: | Worksop College |
| Years Active: | 1983–2011 |
| Parents: | Wilbert Awdry (1911–1997) Margaret Wale (1912–1989) |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 2 |
| Notable Works: | Thomas the Tank Engine |
Christopher Vere Awdry (born 2 July 1940)[1] is an English author. He is best known for his contributions to The Railway Series of books featuring Thomas the Tank Engine, which was started by his late father, Wilbert Awdry (1911–1997). He also produced children's books based on a number of other railways, as well as non-fiction articles and books on heritage railways. He was born at Devizes, the family moving to Kings Norton, Birmingham, when he was aged five months. Awdry was educated at Worksop College, a public school in North Nottinghamshire.
Christopher Awdry is in a way responsible for the creation of Thomas and his railway, which started as a story told to him by his father during a bout of measles in 1942. When his father retired in 1972, he wrote several Thomas books himself. The series came to be called Thomas & Friends after that.[2]
In 2006, the current publishers, Egmont Books, decided to reprint the entire series in their original form; the fourteen books by Christopher were re-released at the beginning of August 2007. His favourite character is Toby.
The new interest from the publishers has gone beyond merely re-releasing the existing books. Christopher Awdry has written a new book for the series, titled Thomas and Victoria, which focuses on stories relating to the railway preservation movement. This, the forty-first book in the series, was released on 3 September 2007. In April 2010, Egmont Books confirmed that another Railway Series book, no 42 in the series, would be published in 2011.[3] The publication date was later confirmed as 4 July 2011, and the illustrator as Clive Spong.[4] It was published under the title Thomas and His Friends. This book would become the final book in the Railway Series to be published.
In 2001, Christopher Awdry wrote six stories featured in two books concerning railway safety, which were distributed to every primary school and library in the country (Bad Days for Thomas and His Friends / More Bad Days for Thomas and His Friends). The train operator Virgin Trains produced a colouring book for young passengers based on the stories.
A series of six books has been produced featuring locomotives from the Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway, and illustrated by Marc Vyvyan-Jones.
Awdry was previously married to Diana Scott, they divorced in 2006 after twenty-six years of marriage.[5]
Published by Dean (Reed Children's Books), 1990–1997, illustrated by Ken Stott.
(Also published as Egmont 'mini books' (1997–1998))