To be honest, I had never heard of this character before, and he is certainly not as well known as thomas, gordon and the rest of the gang. The story introduces Duke, Falcon and Stuart, the little narrow gauge engines. Duke, the main character, was lost in his shed for 22 years because of a landslide, before being found again. The character was based on a real engine in wales. The pictures are lovely as always in the thomas books, but the story may be a little wordy for very young readers. This is probably best for kids aged 6-8.