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nita83's review
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This book takes you on an adventure through England, discovering story settings and the homes of authors. I especially enjoyed the places from books I have read and now have a list of books to read that I have not read.
couillac's review
3.0
I enjoyed this one, though it made me want to do more research into early British children's literature. Beatrix Potter and the Wind in the Willows I know, but many others are just not familiar enough for me to visualize the artwork and stories that inspired this journey. Still, I envy them their experiences and enjoyed the humor and obvious joy they found in their trip. This edition is also nice for the afterword in which the author discusses life after the trip and how this book was received.
emmkayt's review
5.0
A wonderful memoir of an American family's trip to Britain in the 1950s with their young children, to seek out the places represented in British children's books. They drive about staying in inns and B and B's, they camp in a caravan for a couple of weeks, they "mess about in boats" Swallows-and-Amazons-style, they hunt for Toad Hall and Avalon and The Enchanted Place in Winnie-the-Pooh. There are digressions (for example, about thatch), and frustrations (rain, laundry, dead ends), and it is clear that doing research on the fly before the Internet with a 9 and a 2 year old in tow was sometimes less than reliable. I was familiar with some but not all of the books, but it didn't matter. I enjoyed it tremendously. Quite magical.
scenicvista's review
4.0
A pleasant enough travelogue and recounting of visits to real places associated with some of our favorite children’s British literature. I realized I’ve been to several of the places described herein, and I was happy to revisit and get a new appreciation for said places (Stowe, Windermere, etc.). I’m kicking myself for not finishing a read-aloud of Swallows and Amazons yet but on the other hand thoroughly proud we all read or listened to all of the Pooh books and The Wind in the Willows in particular and hope those hours spent doing so lodged deeply into my children’s memories as they have in mine.
katevrst's review
2.0
Oh, this sounds lovely!
After reading: this book really dissapointed me. It was more like a personal journal than an analyse of the environments and influences of childrens books. Too bad.
After reading: this book really dissapointed me. It was more like a personal journal than an analyse of the environments and influences of childrens books. Too bad.
eleneariel's review
4.0
Lovely, nostalgic, charming - but skip the epilogue unless you want to be sad.
bookwormmichelle's review
5.0
One of my new favorite books. I absolutely LOVED this "tour of English books" The chapter on Arthur Ransome alone was enough. I kept reading snippets out loud to my English-literature-loving son. We ate it up like chocolate chip ice cream. Could not possibly recommend more highly for all bookophiles.
satyridae's review
3.0
Bodger and her family went to England to see the sites of their favorite children's books, and Bodger wrote this sweet little book about it. I really enjoyed reading it despite the fact that I haven't read many of the books- because it doesn't matter. It's a thing with which I identified, and reading about how the family reacted to various things being the same/different/missing/better was so much fun. It really made me want to do my own trip, though. And now I want to read Bodger's memoir.
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