Get a double dose of the wonderful characters on Sodor Island in Thomas' Trusty Friends & On Site With Thomas DVD. Viewers may notice that Thomas' adventures are now primarily computer animated, rather than still action with toys. The computer animation still mimics the old style, so Thomas and his friends don't act any different, but they are brighter, able to show more expression, and there is more action in the scenes. This double DVD has a total of 12 adventures, where Thomas and his friends knock over buildings, find a 'lightening tree', tell scary tales, and even find a dinosaur skeleton! There are also two sing-alongs that describe Thomas and each of his friends, as well as what important job they each do. The usual motifs in Thomas stories are seen here, including vehicles' mantra of 'safety first!', and themes of friendship, kindness, and teamwork.

Each of the twelve episodes on this DVD provides an opportunity to speak with your little one about the lesson addressed. A great theme for little ones is self-confidence. Ned faces self confidence issues when he is told he cannot bring down a wall, and Alfie is told he is too small to really help on the construction site. Both characters ultimately prove that they are what they believed they were, and proved the characters who had put them down wrong. Buster the steam roller is a wonderful example of a character who had self esteem to begin with and succeeds at winning his race because of it. Buster didn't let Max and Monty's taunting bring him down; he simply chose to ignore them, kept smiling, and prevailed. If you start a conversation about the plot and moral of any episode, your little one will likely have plenty of questions for you. You can have fun with your little one by asking them who each of the characters are and what they do. This makes your little one feel knowledgeable, and shows you're interested in their interests as well.

My four-year-old niece, Emily, told me recently that Alfie is her favorite character because he is small like her, and green is her favorite color. "Plus," Emily said, "He doesn't like scary stories, and neither do I, so he would be a good friend to have spend the night. We wouldn't do anything scary." She later added that Emily the train could also spend the night because, of course, her name makes her 'cool'.

--Audra