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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book felt like a hug. It encapsulates childlike naivety and free spirit in a wonderful way. Beautiful background/setting to the book and overall very warming
Nesbit is a charming author. While usually I'm not much of a fan of breaking the fourth wall, her asides are so friendly that you quickly feel like she's telling the story directly to you, without there being a book and over a hundred years between you. Having read two of her novels now, I'm surprised how old they are. Sure the settings and slang words are a bit archaic, but the humour, accessibility of the prose and portrayal of women is nothing like other books I've read from the same era. She was obviously an intelligent, progressive and witty woman and I'm glad she was putting such lovely stories out into the world. This particular story about three children and their mother who are mysteriously uprooted from their contented town life after their father vanishes and moved to the countryside to be poor, is a bit too convenient at times, too many coincidences, and the whole sequence with the injured boy Jim happens so near the end of the story, it feels rushed and a little out of place, and I can see that some people might find the children to be a bit too goody goody, but I found their foibles and quarrelling to be enough just to make it wholesome and not too sweet. Actually the book brought tears to my eyes on several occasions. Anyway, I am keen to read more of her work.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There's something about the way British authors wrote children's books a hundred years ago that just hits different. The Railway Children is cozy but never cloying, and the articulate, matter-of-fact telling of the story means it's appealing no matter the reader's age. I never read any of E. Nesbit as a child, excited to change that as an adult!
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this book as it was February‘s book for Sally Hughes’s @salboreads CCC, and a book I had passed by in the library so often as a child, often meaning to read, but never actually reading. Something about the book, the cover, the blurb, when it was written, even the title, made me think it would be boring, (God forbid!) I read this book in a day and found it delightful.
It is about a family with three children: Roberta, Peter and Phylis, who are beautifully brought-up, love one another and their parents and are friendly to everyone. Their comfortable lives are upended when their father is taken away one day by two men for some unknown reason. They are forced to move to a smaller country cottage with their mother and their days are marked by their daily excursions to the local railway station where they wave every morning to the 9:05, believing they are waving to their dear father. At the station they become good friends with the porter and station master and their friendliness and positivity come back to them with the kindness of those grown-ups and also of the doctor who tends to their mother when she is unwell. It was these kindnesses that really gave me that warm feeling when reading this book, and really did give the message that what you put out into the world comes back to you. The ending was so lovely and sometimes the happy ending is perfect in a book, and it was perfect for this one.
The book is of a different time, a time when children could befriend grownups without fear, when they could go off and play independently, when life was simpler, less busy and families had time to spend with each other. I loved this, the pace, the ease they had with each other, the long days, structured only by the trains passing and when visits from people, a parcel arriving are the big events in their lives.
I found it a lovely read. It was the perfect length, any longer and I may have lost focus, but I really enjoyed it. It was a really nice antidote to the busy-ness of modern lives, of the quagmire of social dangers for young people today and the negativity that can dominate in today’s world due to constant news, social media misuse and lack of community in some areas.
It is about a family with three children: Roberta, Peter and Phylis, who are beautifully brought-up, love one another and their parents and are friendly to everyone. Their comfortable lives are upended when their father is taken away one day by two men for some unknown reason. They are forced to move to a smaller country cottage with their mother and their days are marked by their daily excursions to the local railway station where they wave every morning to the 9:05, believing they are waving to their dear father. At the station they become good friends with the porter and station master and their friendliness and positivity come back to them with the kindness of those grown-ups and also of the doctor who tends to their mother when she is unwell. It was these kindnesses that really gave me that warm feeling when reading this book, and really did give the message that what you put out into the world comes back to you. The ending was so lovely and sometimes the happy ending is perfect in a book, and it was perfect for this one.
The book is of a different time, a time when children could befriend grownups without fear, when they could go off and play independently, when life was simpler, less busy and families had time to spend with each other. I loved this, the pace, the ease they had with each other, the long days, structured only by the trains passing and when visits from people, a parcel arriving are the big events in their lives.
I found it a lovely read. It was the perfect length, any longer and I may have lost focus, but I really enjoyed it. It was a really nice antidote to the busy-ness of modern lives, of the quagmire of social dangers for young people today and the negativity that can dominate in today’s world due to constant news, social media misuse and lack of community in some areas.
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No