glenn_blake's review
5.0
This felt like a cross between The Borrowers and Wind in the Willows. It's the perfect read, when you need to pick yourself up and feel good about the world
camillam's review
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
janedallaway's review
4.0
I didn’t read this as a child. It was mentioned in a nature book I read as being something that resonated them in childhood.
I enjoyed my time with the gnomes. Great descriptions of their adventures.
I enjoyed my time with the gnomes. Great descriptions of their adventures.
josiegz's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I read "The Little Grey Men" by 'BB' out loud to my ten-year-old kids. It's a marvelous tale about three gnomes who journey upriver in search of their lost brother, first losing their hand-crafted boat, suffering near-drowning, then defeating a giant, escaping a murderous stoat, and surviving a shipwreck on a desert island, among other travails. Aside from being a story about bravery and brotherhood and loyalty, it is also a wonderful piece of nature writing, recreating lost landscapes of the English countryside of the 1940s.
bethbarron's review against another edition
4.0
Julie Andrews recommended this, her favorite children's book, and I have to agree that it's a delight. These little gnomes have such adventures!
drewsstuff's review
2.0
I soooo wanted to love this book. I mean, what's not to love? The last gnomes in England who live on a Warwickshire riverbank go in search of their brother who has been missing for a couple of years. These Little People encounter all sorts of adventures, unexpected hazards and new friends before returning home. It's a thrilling ride, with some pretty fine descriptions of nature added in for good measure.
The trouble is, it's very much a book of it's time, and it displays a lot of the characteristics and views of that time. The benign tolerance of foreigners, who, if they step out of line are ridiculed and castigated for the fact they are foreign and consequently less entitled to respect and tolerance (I refer, of course, not to people but to animals like the red squirrel, who, if you're not aware, adversely impacted the indigenous population of grey squirrels by the anti-social behaviour of being better able to surive - being better able to store food over a wider area, amongst other things); the condescending sexism - women can't be trusted with anything mechanical; and the glorification of animal cruelty (ok, that one's a bit tentative, I admit, but it leaves a bad taste when a seven year old boy is given the brush of a fox as a glorified memento following a fox hunt).
Now usually I'm able to put those sort of primitive attitudes into perspective and they don't bother me in the slightest: they were pertinent at the time, they're no longer credible. They may have reflected the opinions of an insular and myopic Little Englander at the time (or they may not). That same author today would likely have different views.
But I really didn't expect those sentiments to appear so vividly in a story about gnomes! Or in a story where all the animals, with a few exceptions, live in harmony. Harmony, until you step out of line and are foreign, it appears. It quickly and easily destroyed the whole ethos of the story and consequently the integrity of the story itself.
Comparisons with The Hobbit have been made, but if you've read The Hobbit, don't expect anything approaching its quality. The descriptions of nature come close (though always seem to come down to lists of growing things and the way light reacts with them.) And it's a quest story, it's There And Back Again with the charm diluted and the backstory and history virtually non-existant. So no, it stands comparison with The Hobbit in only the most superficial way.
Would I recommend it? No. Certainly, for the basic storyline alone, it stands up fairly well despite the main characters being somewhat two-dimensional and twee, and it's nowhere near Salar The Salmon or Tarka The Otter in its narrative, but it has its merits. For example I enjoyed the meandering nature of the storyline which for me reflected the route of the stream they followed; a nice, if not deliberate, touch.
The problem is, it's demerits outweigh all the rest of it.
The trouble is, it's very much a book of it's time, and it displays a lot of the characteristics and views of that time. The benign tolerance of foreigners, who, if they step out of line are ridiculed and castigated for the fact they are foreign and consequently less entitled to respect and tolerance (I refer, of course, not to people but to animals like the red squirrel, who, if you're not aware, adversely impacted the indigenous population of grey squirrels by the anti-social behaviour of being better able to surive - being better able to store food over a wider area, amongst other things); the condescending sexism - women can't be trusted with anything mechanical; and the glorification of animal cruelty (ok, that one's a bit tentative, I admit, but it leaves a bad taste when a seven year old boy is given the brush of a fox as a glorified memento following a fox hunt).
Now usually I'm able to put those sort of primitive attitudes into perspective and they don't bother me in the slightest: they were pertinent at the time, they're no longer credible. They may have reflected the opinions of an insular and myopic Little Englander at the time (or they may not). That same author today would likely have different views.
But I really didn't expect those sentiments to appear so vividly in a story about gnomes! Or in a story where all the animals, with a few exceptions, live in harmony. Harmony, until you step out of line and are foreign, it appears. It quickly and easily destroyed the whole ethos of the story and consequently the integrity of the story itself.
Comparisons with The Hobbit have been made, but if you've read The Hobbit, don't expect anything approaching its quality. The descriptions of nature come close (though always seem to come down to lists of growing things and the way light reacts with them.) And it's a quest story, it's There And Back Again with the charm diluted and the backstory and history virtually non-existant. So no, it stands comparison with The Hobbit in only the most superficial way.
Would I recommend it? No. Certainly, for the basic storyline alone, it stands up fairly well despite the main characters being somewhat two-dimensional and twee, and it's nowhere near Salar The Salmon or Tarka The Otter in its narrative, but it has its merits. For example I enjoyed the meandering nature of the storyline which for me reflected the route of the stream they followed; a nice, if not deliberate, touch.
The problem is, it's demerits outweigh all the rest of it.
nce14210's review
4.0
Three and a half stars. Julie Andrews Edwards' favorite childhood book. Gnomes on a journey. A good page turner.
Even more delightful on my second reading. I'm sorry I missed my book group which discussed this title. I know that others loved it as well. Might have to look for the next in the series.
Even more delightful on my second reading. I'm sorry I missed my book group which discussed this title. I know that others loved it as well. Might have to look for the next in the series.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
4.0
There are only four gnomes left in the world, and one of them, Cloudberry, set off a year earlier to find the source of the Folly and never returned. Two of the three remaining gnomes decide to go in search of Cloudberry, leaving behind the one-legged elderly Dodder. But even Dodder can't resist the lure of adventure, and he, too, takes off after the others.
The gnomes have all sorts of fun and scary adventures, including a lost boat and a skirmish with a giant.
It's an adventure of the old-fashioned sort, with gnomes as your guides.
The gnomes have all sorts of fun and scary adventures, including a lost boat and a skirmish with a giant.
It's an adventure of the old-fashioned sort, with gnomes as your guides.
lieslindi's review
Charming, a wonderful bridge between Wind in the Willows and Watership Down, with a bit of Miss Hickory for good measure.
Unfortunately I don't think a contemporary reader would understand that the animals call the farmed pheasants "Chinamen" because the species is not native to England. That and the near-absence of females are the only unkind things a parent would need to explain to a child. That the critters need Pan's help against a Grum is obvious.
Unfortunately I don't think a contemporary reader would understand that the animals call the farmed pheasants "Chinamen" because the species is not native to England. That and the near-absence of females are the only unkind things a parent would need to explain to a child. That the critters need Pan's help against a Grum is obvious.