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katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
These books really need reissuing again. Lately the well-known ones (Wizard of Oz, Treasure Island, Anne of Green Gables) have been spruced up for a new generation with some lovely covers. The Wind on the Moon and others like it need the same. It's every bit the classic the three mentioned are. But it won't stand a chance unless a lucky child has a parent who remembers it from childhood.
I only discovered it after seeing it won the Carnegie back in the 1940s and decided to try it. And it's perfect. Wish I'd read it at the age of nine. More magical than Mary Poppins, there are adventures with talking animals, prison escapes, magic potions. It's a wonderful childhood read, full of imagination and spirit.
Dinah and Dorinda never once seem like two good girls to whom nothing interesting will ever happen - from the very start, we know that the 'wind on the moon' is likely to make them do very naughty things while their daddy is away at war. And they don't let us down... from eating so much until they can only walk by rolling, they then decide to get their own back on their taunters by turning into animals and scaring everyone. And that sets off a whole new set of adventures. Still later, they learn their father is a prisoner in a faraway castle...
The girls reminded me of the best child characters in fiction - they aren't pretty and twee but full of fun and bravery, mischief and curiosity. The world around them is affectionately built as well, lots of minor characters you learn to love, especially their know-all nurse (their mother of course, is usually busy or absent in mind, not noticing what the girls are up to). The animal characters too are well drawn and a lot of fun, and the book makes some good points about zoos and freedom (both good and bad points are raised).
The prison chapters reminded me of The Rescuers (which I also recently read for the first time), and is almost a Part Two to the Zoo focus of the first half of the book. It all makes a satisfying whole however, and will hold the attention of a child reading to themselves, but I think I would actualy like to read this to my son and share it with him when he's 6/7.
You do get a feel for the period, but it's perfectly accessible in language and context and makes a refreshing change from contemporary family dramas, though it does have moments of keen pathos. So so glad I finally read it.
I only discovered it after seeing it won the Carnegie back in the 1940s and decided to try it. And it's perfect. Wish I'd read it at the age of nine. More magical than Mary Poppins, there are adventures with talking animals, prison escapes, magic potions. It's a wonderful childhood read, full of imagination and spirit.
Dinah and Dorinda never once seem like two good girls to whom nothing interesting will ever happen - from the very start, we know that the 'wind on the moon' is likely to make them do very naughty things while their daddy is away at war. And they don't let us down... from eating so much until they can only walk by rolling, they then decide to get their own back on their taunters by turning into animals and scaring everyone. And that sets off a whole new set of adventures. Still later, they learn their father is a prisoner in a faraway castle...
The girls reminded me of the best child characters in fiction - they aren't pretty and twee but full of fun and bravery, mischief and curiosity. The world around them is affectionately built as well, lots of minor characters you learn to love, especially their know-all nurse (their mother of course, is usually busy or absent in mind, not noticing what the girls are up to). The animal characters too are well drawn and a lot of fun, and the book makes some good points about zoos and freedom (both good and bad points are raised).
The prison chapters reminded me of The Rescuers (which I also recently read for the first time), and is almost a Part Two to the Zoo focus of the first half of the book. It all makes a satisfying whole however, and will hold the attention of a child reading to themselves, but I think I would actualy like to read this to my son and share it with him when he's 6/7.
You do get a feel for the period, but it's perfectly accessible in language and context and makes a refreshing change from contemporary family dramas, though it does have moments of keen pathos. So so glad I finally read it.
tstevens3's review against another edition
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
claranasman02's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
ollie_of_orange's review against another edition
3.0
Read it as a kid. This book will always have a special place in my heart.
ebergenheim's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
4.0
sollie's review against another edition
2.0
I read this when I was about eight or nine, did not remember much except that there was a talking panther and that I didn't like it. I tried picking it up again for a re-read and it has the same tone as Wind in the Willows (which I also disliked with a fierce passion as a child, and when I re-read it). Trying to give it another chance I just found it repetitious and ughhhhh. Not to mention pretty racially insensitive stuff only in the first chapter (product of its time and all that, but I just don't care and don't want to associate with it, kind of like how I don't want to rewatch Dumbo)
so yeah, DNF, I don't care for this one at all.
so yeah, DNF, I don't care for this one at all.
nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3424586.html
Apparently a really popular children's book, which won the Carnegie Medal for 1944; the two sisters Dinah and Dorinda have a series of magical adventures including being turned into giraffes for the local zoo and dramatically rescuing their father from a foreign prison. Didn't especially grab me, but obviously it has a loyal following.
Apparently a really popular children's book, which won the Carnegie Medal for 1944; the two sisters Dinah and Dorinda have a series of magical adventures including being turned into giraffes for the local zoo and dramatically rescuing their father from a foreign prison. Didn't especially grab me, but obviously it has a loyal following.