Peter’s Railway to the rescue by Christopher Vine

A new installment of the popular series aimed at educating young minds

The fourth book in the Peter’s Railway series keeps up the high standards of its predecessors with a delightful tale of how a young boy and his grandad work together to help their local community beat the ravages of a cold winter.

In Peter’s Railway to the Rescue, our two heroes design a makeshift snow plough, making it possible to use their miniature steam railway to get feed to the animals. All they need to do is fire up their trusty locomotive in the bitter conditions to enable them to save the day. Then, as winter turns to spring, the pair combine efforts again to construct a watermill on a river to generate electricity. Peter gets to learn all about energy and power.

The story whips along at a fast pace, enough to keep the attention of easily distracted younger minds, and it is enhanced by some beautiful colour illustrations. Supporting the narrative are educational technical pages and cutaway diagrams covering issues such as how snow ploughs work, why ice can burst boilers and how a locomotive makes its steam.

The Peter’s Railway series is the brainchild of Christopher Vine, who grew tired of not being able to find books aimed at encouraging the next generation of budding engineers. He has now sold more than 15,000 copies and has won some high-profile supporters - the latest book has a foreword by Colin Smith, director - engineering and technology at Rolls-Royce.

The books deserve to continue selling well. They are an exemplar of how to educate and engage young minds.

• Peter’s Railway to the Rescue is published on 1 October, priced £11.99. 
  See www.petersrailway.com for more details