shawna337's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
thomcat's review against another edition
3.0
Read with daughter, she couldn't get into it. Finished it on my own. Rereading it in less than seven months later on might raise the rating a bit :)
metaphorosis's review against another edition
3.0
I read a fair amount of Edith Nesbit as a child, but hadn't run across this one. About a boy who magically enters a city he had built of odds and ends, this book is reliable, if unexciting Nesbit.
The story, and the substory about the boy making friends with his new step-sister, doesn't bring much that's new. But the magic of Nesbit's writing is in the light, good-natured feel of her writing, and that's present here in full force.
All in all, a nice, light-hearted story, and a fun, safe read for young children.
The story, and the substory about the boy making friends with his new step-sister, doesn't bring much that's new. But the magic of Nesbit's writing is in the light, good-natured feel of her writing, and that's present here in full force.
All in all, a nice, light-hearted story, and a fun, safe read for young children.
dmbarnham's review against another edition
2.0
I know it was written over a 100 years ago. But still there was little to entice me with this fantasy children's book. I liked parts, I liked the building of the city and I liked moments when the children are in the world they created. But ultimately it was very lack luster. A product of it's time perhaps, but there are other books just as old, or even older that I thoroughly loved. I doubt I'll ever return to this.
verymom's review against another edition
4.0
Adorable. We need to read everything else she wrote immediately.
jlmb's review against another edition
4.0
I've loved every E Nesbit book I've read. I'm sad I didn't know about this book as a little kid so I could have read it then. She creates the perfect blend of magic, humor, adventure and a happy ending. This book was written in 1910 but reads so fresh and modern.
Some of the many excellent quotes from this book.
"I'm more likely to meet Lucy. Girls always keep to paths. They never explore." Which just shows how little he knew about girls.
No one spoke. Philip said nothing because he was in a bad temper. And if you are in a bad temper, nothing is a good thing to say.
Why is it so pleasant to have a bath, and so tiresome to wash your hands and face in a basin?
But I am wandering. When you remember the things that happened when you were a child, you could go on writing about them for ever. I will put all this in brackets and then you need not read it if you don't want to.
In a maze of sleepy repletion (look that up in the dicker, will you?) the children went to bed.
"I wish we had factories like those. Our factories are so ugly."...."That's because all your factories are money factories, though they're called by all sorts of different names. Every one here has to make something that isn't just money or for money - something useful and beautiful."
"Oh, you mean your laws are beautiful when they're kept."...."Beautiful things can't be beautiful when they're broken, of course, not even laws. But ugly laws are only beautiful when they're broken. That's odd, isn't it? Laws are very tricky things"
"Girls aren't expected to be brave"...."They are, here. The girls are expected to be brave and the boys kind."
"How meals do keep happening! It seems only a few minutes since supper and yet here we are, hungry again"...."Ah, that's what people always feel when they have to get their meals themselves"
"You don't understand. You've never been a servant, to see other people get all the fat and you all the bones. What do you think it's like to know if you'd just been born in a gentleman's mansion instead of in a workman's dwelling you'd have been brought up as a young lady and had openwork silk stockings and lace on your petticoats."
Some of the many excellent quotes from this book.
"I'm more likely to meet Lucy. Girls always keep to paths. They never explore." Which just shows how little he knew about girls.
No one spoke. Philip said nothing because he was in a bad temper. And if you are in a bad temper, nothing is a good thing to say.
Why is it so pleasant to have a bath, and so tiresome to wash your hands and face in a basin?
But I am wandering. When you remember the things that happened when you were a child, you could go on writing about them for ever. I will put all this in brackets and then you need not read it if you don't want to.
In a maze of sleepy repletion (look that up in the dicker, will you?) the children went to bed.
"I wish we had factories like those. Our factories are so ugly."...."That's because all your factories are money factories, though they're called by all sorts of different names. Every one here has to make something that isn't just money or for money - something useful and beautiful."
"Oh, you mean your laws are beautiful when they're kept."...."Beautiful things can't be beautiful when they're broken, of course, not even laws. But ugly laws are only beautiful when they're broken. That's odd, isn't it? Laws are very tricky things"
"Girls aren't expected to be brave"...."They are, here. The girls are expected to be brave and the boys kind."
"How meals do keep happening! It seems only a few minutes since supper and yet here we are, hungry again"...."Ah, that's what people always feel when they have to get their meals themselves"
"You don't understand. You've never been a servant, to see other people get all the fat and you all the bones. What do you think it's like to know if you'd just been born in a gentleman's mansion instead of in a workman's dwelling you'd have been brought up as a young lady and had openwork silk stockings and lace on your petticoats."
navayiota's review against another edition
3.0
Quite a boring, slow and old children's book. I wouldn't recommend it. I don't love the genre in general but even compared to the other ones I've read it's not very good.
kateofmind's review against another edition
4.0
I only know of this book through Freeman Dyson, who kind of spoiled its surprises for me but even knowing its ending didn't actually spoil the read. I wish I could have had access to this book when I was a kid because it would probably have been a favorite. As it is, I'll make sure every kid I know has a crack at it now that it's a free e-book.
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