Thomas and Friends Storytime.
Counting Cows, a podcast story for kids starring Thomas, Percy and lots of cows.
Based on the Railway series by the Reverend W. Audrey.
Created by Britt Allcroft and read by me, Rachel Louise Miller.
This episode is brought to you by Coles.
Parents, look out for these Thomas and Friends books coming this summer to Coles.
Titles Go Train Go and Stop Train Stop.
Each come with an adorable plush toy.
100 of net profit from the sale of Coles Cares merchandise helps support the health and well-being of families in local communities.
Visit coles.com cares to learn more.
Each title sold separately and subject to availability.
And now it's story time.
Over the hill and round the bend you'll find a large roundhouse called Tidmouth Sheds, where five little engines sleep soundly at night and wake in the morning as the sun shines its light.
They all have work to do and cargo to tow.
For this happy crew, it's all engines go.
Today's story is all about paying attention when you have an important job to do.
It's called counting cows.
One day, Thomas and Percy offered to help Gordon by delivering some cows to McColl's farm.
Thomas and Percy thought that sounded like a totally awesome job.
Be very careful, Gordon warned them.
It won't be as easy as you think.
But Thomas and Percy didn't pay attention to Gordon.
All aboard! shouted Thomas as Percy began loading the cows into the livestock car.
Get a move on! giggled Percy.
I think there are going to be a lot of amusing jokes in this story.
As the cows walked up the ramp and into the livestock car, Gordon began to count them.
One, two, three...
Thomas and Percy coupled up to the front of the car.
This is going to be so much fun, said Thomas excitedly.
But in their hurry to get going, they didn't listen to Gordon counting the cows.
Eight, nine, ten.
You need to deliver ten cows, Gordon told them.
Moo, moo, Thomas and Percy said to the cows.
Moo, moo, replied the cows.
Moo, moo, back to you too, laughed Thomas and Percy.
Gordon was worried that Thomas and Percy weren't taking their job very seriously.
You'll need to pay attention to keep track of how many cows you have, he told them.
Don't worry, Gordon, it shouldn't be too hard to deliver eight cows, said Thomas.
It's ten cows, Thomas, replied Gordon.
Oh dear, I don't think Thomas has been paying attention.
Thomas smiled.
Ten cows?
We'll pay extra super attention, Gordon.
I Thomas promise.
Now let's move out.
So Thomas and Percy headed off to McCall's farm with the ten cows.
As they puffed along, they sang songs, played My Eye Spy and told cow jokes.
But they were having so much fun and making so much noise.
Thomas and Percy didn't hear the sound of the railway crossing bell.
They just managed to stop before they crashed into the crossing gate.
The livestock car Thomas was pulling banged into the back of his buffers and the door of the car flew open.
The cows in the car looked out from the open door at the green fields by the side of the track, and then two of the cows jumped out of the car.
What cheeky cows!
Soon the crossing gates opened and Thomas and Percy went on their way, didn't realize they'd left two cows behind.
Thomas and Percy arrived at Farmer McColl's farm.
They unloaded the cows and began to count them.
One, Two, three, four happy cows.
Five, six, seven, eight happy cows.
But then there were no more cows to count.
Thomas and Percy looked around the field.
Oh no, said Thomas.
There should be ten cows.
We're missing two cows.
Percy was worried.
We were having so much fun playing games we didn't pay attention to the cows.
We've got to find them, said Thomas.
So the two engines raced away.
But Thomas and Percy were in such a rush they forgot to shut the gate and three more cows decided to leave the field and go for a walk.
Thomas and Percy were looking for the first two missing cows when they remembered that all their cows had black or brown spots.
I know!
Let's play the My Eye Spy Something with Spots game, said Percy.
Great idea, Purse, agreed Thomas.
My Eye Spy a Spotted Train Car, said Thomas.
Hmm, no cows there.
But then he saw two eyes, two ears and a swishy tail.
Moo!
It was a spotted cow.
My, I spy, some spotted birds in a tree, said Percy.
Definitely no cows there, laughed Thomas.
Then they spied a spotted fence and in front of the fence was... Can you guess?
Moo!
That's right, a spotted cow!
This time, playing games hadn't distracted Thomas and Percy.
It had helped them stay focused on finding the cows.
Thomas and Percy took the two cows back to Farmer McColl's farm. as fast as they could.
But when they got there, they found the gate to the cow field was open.
Oh dear, that's the gate that Thomas and Percy forgot to shut.
Thomas and Percy quickly unloaded the two cows, then counted all the cows again.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Seven?
Oh no!
Now we're missing three cows, cried Thomas.
This is an utter disaster, joked Percy.
This is no time for jokes, said Thomas, carefully closing the gate.
We need to find those missing cows.
Thomas and Percy began searching for the three missing cows, but they couldn't see them anywhere.
Then Thomas had an idea Maybe if we moo to the cows like we did this morning, they'll moo back and then we'll be able to hear them.
Percy thought that was a moo-tastic idea.
It's a listening game, he said enthusiastically.
So Thomas and Percy sang.
Moo, moo, moo, where are you?
Then they heard a moo in reply.
Thomas and Percy followed the sound of the moo's until they found one of the missing cows hiding behind an old tractor.
Just two more cows to find.
Thomas and Percy puffed along the track.
Moo, moo, moo, where are you?
They sang until they heard another cow.
This time the cow was hiding in a barn.
Only one more cow to go.
Moo moo moo, where are you?
Sang Thomas and Percy.
Moo came the reply.
They found the last cow hiding inside a big pile of straw.
Now they've found all three missing cows.
Back at Farmer McColl's farm, Thomas and Percy counted all the cows again.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!
All ten cows were back in the field.
Thomas and Percy smiled.
Moo-tastic! they cried.
Just then, Gordon arrived.
Ten cows, he said.
Excellent.
You must have really paid attention.
We played attention, Percy said.
We played games that helped us pay attention.
Gordon was impressed.
Well now, he said.
Your play attention game certainly worked.
I must try it myself sometime.
Thomas and Percy moo-mooed here and moo-mooed there and found their lost cows everywhere.
The End Listen out for other adventures with Thomas and Friends Storytime.
Parents, if you liked what you heard, like, review and subscribe to our channel.
Tell your friends too!
Thomas and Friends is a registered trademark of Galane Thomas Limited.
