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661 reviews for:

The Railway Children

E. Nesbit

3.87 AVERAGE


This is riches-to-rags meets Pollyanna. Very sweet and very unrealistic but a bit of fun irregardless.

Too cloying and sweet, but really pretty charming and funny.
adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
Loveable characters: Yes

Oh what a delightful novel! Totally worth a reread. It's a classic children's novel appropriate for all ages. Such lessons of kindness are much needed in these stressful times.
It accounts for the adventures of three kids who have relocated into a house 'Three chimneys' near a railway.
The prose is quite simple and charming. The characters, especially the kids are endearing. The plot is quite positive and reminds me of Mary Poppins, only much more believable and real.
Certain lines are quite profound and reminders of simple kindness and humanity that exists.

Buku anak-anak yang sebenarnya bagus ceritanya, tapi sedikit membosankan penceritaannya. Kita diceritakan bahwa ketiga anak ini - Bobbie, Peter dan Phillys- sedang bersenang-senang, tapi tidak terbaca bahwa mereka sedang bermain gembira. Atau bahwa mereka sedang sedih, tapi tidak menyentuh hati. Apalagi dengan POV orang ketiga, yang kadang-kadang menyelipkan 'pesan sponsor' untuk jadi anak baik, tabah, dst, dst, yah, jadinya... sedikit tanggung. Padahal latar belakang kisahnya cukup menjanjikan.

Review lengkapnya di
http://skyandroads.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-railway-children.html

#31/2013

I've seen the 2000 adaptation of this twice so far, and thoroughly enjoyed it both times, so I decided I ought to read the book. It was good and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

A very sweet children's book about three children who move to the country when their Father has to leave unexpectedly. They fall in love with the railway, while the local community falls in love with them.

This is a lovely book, though I started to tire of the language; written in 1905, there's plenty of "oh rather", "I must say Bobbie, you are a real brick" and "oh DON'T, please DON'T or I shall be ill!" which starts to get a little ridiculous. Add that to the extraordinary number of times the children manage to save the day, it becomes unbelievable - but it is a children's book!
adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love this story and have already reviewed a different version for 20 books of summer a couple of years ago. It was a real delight listening to this a second time, in fact I may have enjoyed it more because this was a professional recording and Virginia Leishman was so good at all the different characters. I highly recommend this classic children’s book.

This was so pure.

A lovely little nostalgic re-read. I read this MANY times as a kid and I absolutely remember why I loved it. I think this book probably spawned my love of British humor and wit in literature -- the wry kind of authorial voice that I definitely gravitate to now. 

There are some outdates views on gender roles expressed, just a time or two -- and then other times those roles are pushed back against slightly -- but makes sense with it having been published in 1906!