Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Faber and Faber (2000), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 128 pages
Description
Tolly comes to live with his great-grandmother at the ancient house of Green Knowe and becomes friends with three children who lived there in the seventeenth century.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Treeseed
The Children of Green Knowe, originally published in 1954, is the first book in a series of six fantasies written by L.M. Boston. It is sold as a children's fantasy for the 9-12 years age group, but Boston said that she wrote the books to please herself. The writing is atmospheric and evocative
The book introduces Toseland, also known as Tolly, an only child whose mother has died and whose father and stepmother reside in Burma. The book opens with Toseland's train pulling into Penny Soaky from whence he embarks for the manor house called Green Knowe or Green Noah as the locals call it, which is his ancestral home. He is ferried across the flooded landscape by Boggis, the caretaker of the manor and meets his great grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow.
Even though Toseland has been apprehensive about the castle and meeting the "very old" lady, her gentle ways and the lovely surroundings of the castle welcome him. The descriptive language gently pulls the reader in and sets the mood where we and young Toseland willingly become lost in time and adrift between real and magical worlds. "His grandmother was sitting by a huge open fireplace where logs and peat were burning. The room smelled of woods and wood-smoke. He forgot about her being frighteningly old. She was wearing a soft dress of folded velvet that was as black as a hole in darkness. The room was full of candles in glass candlesticks, and there was candlelight in her ring when she held out her hand to him."
Great Grandmother Oldknow's first words to Toseland are, "So you've come back!" Since he's never been at Green Knowe before, he asks her what she means by this statement and we learn that for hundreds of years the Oldknow family names have been passed down and there have been generations of Toselands, Tobys and Tollys, as well as generations of caretakers named Boggis and of girls that share grandmother's name of Linnet. Green Knowe is a romantic place set apart in time with tradition and history that are mingled with the present in magical ways that mystify and engage young Tolly as well as the reader. The various generational characters are the device that makes us happily lose our way in the slipstream of time.
In Toseland's bedroom, high up beneath the ceiling beams he discovers an old painting of three children who lived 400 years in the past. They are shown with their favorite pets and toys. He sees old toys and a toy chest in the room and becomes very interested in the children. The Children of Green Knowe is at least in part a ghost story. The children in the painting reveal themselves to Tolly and become his friends. They and their mother died during one of the plagues that swept across Europe. Grandmother Oldknow can see them as well.
The plot unfolds through stories that Grandmother tells Tolly and through Tolly's exploration of the manor and his attempts to know the children and their pet animals. We are swept up in the ambiance and mystery of Green Knowe and we meet St. Christopher who is a statue in the garden as well as a strangely benevolent force, a ghostly chestnut horse named Feste, a mystical and ancient salmon in a pool, and a diabolical Green Noah, whose wild and threatening persona harks back to pagan Green Man and Wicker Man mythology. A thread of Christian mysticism is woven throughout the book as well, but a subtle and unobtrusive thread that accents peacefully.
There is a bright tapestry of nostalgic references here including rich descriptions of English Christmas traditions, lyrics to hymns and folk songs, tea time practices, the art of conversation, the country pleasures of a livery stable and a large topiary that also play into the magical atmosphere of Green Knowe's story. Music, animals and birds are woven throughout this tapestry as well and are as much a part of Toseland's experience as his ghostly ancestors or his loving grandmother.
We see Tolly growing and developing and becoming more deeply sensitive and thoughtful. It is as if Green Knowe, set apart in time as it is, has been waiting for him to claim his ancestral traditions and his inner layers of self.
I love this book for its mood of romance, its poetic language and its preservation of the gentle nuances of a bygone day. I love the ghostly almost macabre atmosphere that calmly and mysteriously leads us through the shadowy rooms of the manor house, the shady corners of its grounds and into the lives of the people who inhabit its many intersecting time streams. I think, in this day and age, that it may be too subtle to be enjoyed by most children. Some of the language is arcane and nearly all the practices depicted in the book have long since been discontinued. That is both its great beauty and its downfall. While it is a fantasy it is written in such a way that we believe it is not a fantasy at all. It seems that if we could open ourselves to the sensitivity of this bygone day that we would be able to find ourselves relating with ghosts and the wild magics of country and castle in matter of fact as well as whimsy. It does not seem fantastic at all, but strangely natural.
I highly recommend this book. Here is a list of the other five books in the series:
Treasure of Green Knowe
The River at Green Knowe
A Stranger at Green Knowe
An Enemy at Green Knowe
The Stones of Green Knowe.
I do, however, add a cautionary note that this book deserves to be read to a child rather than tossed at a child. There are no Quidditch games in here and no flying cars. I love Harry Potter type children's fantasy, but just because this book is lumped in with that genre in most book stores and websites, does not mean it is that type of book. It is short on action and long on atmosphere, imagery, and philosophy. It is beautiful, tender, and beguiling. Allow it to enfold you.
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with beautifully descriptive language and a subtle, layered plot that will appeal to sensitive, romantic adults. The story is ghostly, magical and moody and I think will appeal to some children but not to those who rely upon a great deal of action to keep their interest engaged. The book introduces Toseland, also known as Tolly, an only child whose mother has died and whose father and stepmother reside in Burma. The book opens with Toseland's train pulling into Penny Soaky from whence he embarks for the manor house called Green Knowe or Green Noah as the locals call it, which is his ancestral home. He is ferried across the flooded landscape by Boggis, the caretaker of the manor and meets his great grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow.
Even though Toseland has been apprehensive about the castle and meeting the "very old" lady, her gentle ways and the lovely surroundings of the castle welcome him. The descriptive language gently pulls the reader in and sets the mood where we and young Toseland willingly become lost in time and adrift between real and magical worlds. "His grandmother was sitting by a huge open fireplace where logs and peat were burning. The room smelled of woods and wood-smoke. He forgot about her being frighteningly old. She was wearing a soft dress of folded velvet that was as black as a hole in darkness. The room was full of candles in glass candlesticks, and there was candlelight in her ring when she held out her hand to him."
Great Grandmother Oldknow's first words to Toseland are, "So you've come back!" Since he's never been at Green Knowe before, he asks her what she means by this statement and we learn that for hundreds of years the Oldknow family names have been passed down and there have been generations of Toselands, Tobys and Tollys, as well as generations of caretakers named Boggis and of girls that share grandmother's name of Linnet. Green Knowe is a romantic place set apart in time with tradition and history that are mingled with the present in magical ways that mystify and engage young Tolly as well as the reader. The various generational characters are the device that makes us happily lose our way in the slipstream of time.
In Toseland's bedroom, high up beneath the ceiling beams he discovers an old painting of three children who lived 400 years in the past. They are shown with their favorite pets and toys. He sees old toys and a toy chest in the room and becomes very interested in the children. The Children of Green Knowe is at least in part a ghost story. The children in the painting reveal themselves to Tolly and become his friends. They and their mother died during one of the plagues that swept across Europe. Grandmother Oldknow can see them as well.
The plot unfolds through stories that Grandmother tells Tolly and through Tolly's exploration of the manor and his attempts to know the children and their pet animals. We are swept up in the ambiance and mystery of Green Knowe and we meet St. Christopher who is a statue in the garden as well as a strangely benevolent force, a ghostly chestnut horse named Feste, a mystical and ancient salmon in a pool, and a diabolical Green Noah, whose wild and threatening persona harks back to pagan Green Man and Wicker Man mythology. A thread of Christian mysticism is woven throughout the book as well, but a subtle and unobtrusive thread that accents peacefully.
There is a bright tapestry of nostalgic references here including rich descriptions of English Christmas traditions, lyrics to hymns and folk songs, tea time practices, the art of conversation, the country pleasures of a livery stable and a large topiary that also play into the magical atmosphere of Green Knowe's story. Music, animals and birds are woven throughout this tapestry as well and are as much a part of Toseland's experience as his ghostly ancestors or his loving grandmother.
We see Tolly growing and developing and becoming more deeply sensitive and thoughtful. It is as if Green Knowe, set apart in time as it is, has been waiting for him to claim his ancestral traditions and his inner layers of self.
I love this book for its mood of romance, its poetic language and its preservation of the gentle nuances of a bygone day. I love the ghostly almost macabre atmosphere that calmly and mysteriously leads us through the shadowy rooms of the manor house, the shady corners of its grounds and into the lives of the people who inhabit its many intersecting time streams. I think, in this day and age, that it may be too subtle to be enjoyed by most children. Some of the language is arcane and nearly all the practices depicted in the book have long since been discontinued. That is both its great beauty and its downfall. While it is a fantasy it is written in such a way that we believe it is not a fantasy at all. It seems that if we could open ourselves to the sensitivity of this bygone day that we would be able to find ourselves relating with ghosts and the wild magics of country and castle in matter of fact as well as whimsy. It does not seem fantastic at all, but strangely natural.
I highly recommend this book. Here is a list of the other five books in the series:
Treasure of Green Knowe
The River at Green Knowe
A Stranger at Green Knowe
An Enemy at Green Knowe
The Stones of Green Knowe.
I do, however, add a cautionary note that this book deserves to be read to a child rather than tossed at a child. There are no Quidditch games in here and no flying cars. I love Harry Potter type children's fantasy, but just because this book is lumped in with that genre in most book stores and websites, does not mean it is that type of book. It is short on action and long on atmosphere, imagery, and philosophy. It is beautiful, tender, and beguiling. Allow it to enfold you.
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LibraryThing member Johnny1978
The Children of Green Knowe is an elegantly written children's novel that centres on a boy named Tolly - estranged from his father and his new stepmother, he is sent to live with his great grandmother in his family's ancestral home. He is fascinated by the story of Toby, Alexander and Linnet
The Children of Green Knowe is a beautiful evocation of English Arcadia - after the implied negligence of his parents Tolly is given back his innocence by the English countryside and emotionally renewed by the care of his grandmother and by his friendship with the ghosts.
Toby, Alexander and Linnet represent the spirit of a richer, more 'authentic' England - invisible to all but a select few. As his Grandmother says, 'you will see them when they've come to know you'.
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(children antecedents who died in the 1700s during the Great Plague) and is eventually befriended by their ghosts. Tolly learns the history of the children and uncovers the secrets behind Green Noah (the demonic remnant of a gypsy curse).The Children of Green Knowe is a beautiful evocation of English Arcadia - after the implied negligence of his parents Tolly is given back his innocence by the English countryside and emotionally renewed by the care of his grandmother and by his friendship with the ghosts.
Toby, Alexander and Linnet represent the spirit of a richer, more 'authentic' England - invisible to all but a select few. As his Grandmother says, 'you will see them when they've come to know you'.
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LibraryThing member shoebacca
This ghost story with a twist is about a child who goes to stay in an old, old house. There he meets the owner, an interesting old woman named Mrs Oldknowe, and three other children, a lot like him--except that they have been dead for years. In this ghost story, there are some frightening parts--in
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fact it has one of the scariest scenes I have ever read-- but it isn't the ghosts who are scary. All in all, however, the book is far more dreamy than spooky. And best of all, if you like it, it is only the first in a long series. Show Less
LibraryThing member RBeffa
This is a book I probably would have really enjoyed when I was about 10. It is a childhood favorite of my wife, the first in a series. I've seen it sitting on a shelf from when our children were young, but never picked it up until now. I've wanted to visit a few children's classics that I missed,
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and here is one of them. There is a gentleness to this story that I found very endearing. It is lovely. There is a simple magic to this book that slowly enchanted me. This is one to read to younger children, if you are lucky enough to still have them. With luck I will read this to a grandchild one day. Show Less
LibraryThing member nicole47
This book left me feeling warm and cozy. A wonderful children's book, and a comfort book for all ages. I thought it would be more E. Nesbitty. It is definitely British and reminds me a bit of The Enchanted Castle, but there's no dark undercurrent that in the end magic/supernatural things always go
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wrong. It isn't funny like Edward Eager (and definitely not American), but it has his same lightness. Anne of Green Gables plus The Secret Garden with actual ghosts. Where has this book been all my life? I should have been reading it age 8, not age 31 (well, maybe again age 31). I wish I had discovered it earlier. Show Less
LibraryThing member oapostrophe
As a British child of the 1950's there was something wonderfully familiar about the feel of this book. It seemed to me a classic fantasy. A wonderfully imaginative story about a little boy, Tolly, who is on his way to his great grandmother's country house for the holidays. His mother is dead and
This is a book I can imagine a child curling up with at night and reading til finished.
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his father and stepmother are in Burma. He's a lonely but observant little fellow who makes a quick connection with his great gramdmother Oldknow, her gardener Boggis, and the other children from generations before who appear and disappear along with various birds, animals, and shadows.This is a book I can imagine a child curling up with at night and reading til finished.
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LibraryThing member PamelaDLloyd
As a child, I loved the series of which this book is a part. I enjoyed reading it again; it's always wonderful to find that a childhood favorite doesn't disappoint when read as an adult.
LibraryThing member PollyMoore3
I wish I'd discovered these as a child. But I did actually meet Lucy Boston, by happenstance and serendipity. Some years ago we were travelling to Suffolk for a holiday, and went via Hemingford Grey, mainly because I hoped to catch a glimpse of Lucy Boston's house from afar. (I'd also read "Memory
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in a house", her account of the house and her life there). Walking down the river path, a lady passing by pointed out the house, set a long way back from the river. Another lady was leaning over the gate, small and elderly, but still with very dark hair. "And this is Lucy Boston!" added the first woman as she hurried on. We shyly said hello, and to my everlasting amazement Lucy Boston asked "Would you like to see the garden?" So we had a guided tour of the magical garden with its yews and willows, which come magically alive in the book. Mrs Boston must have been well into her nineties then, though she didn't seem it. A very special moment. Show Less
LibraryThing member hollyhox
I never heard of this, but really enjoyed it. A young English boy goes to live with his grandmother, and encounters the ghosts of his ancestors living in her home. The house dates from the time of William the Conqueror, so Tolly meets ghosts of people who lived centuries ago, including one from the
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time of Charles II. I was drawn in right away, because it's written very well, and I'm a history and architecture buff. Would be a great way to inspire children to learn about history. Show Less
LibraryThing member phoebesmum
A true children's classic, and a simply lovely book by any standard, filled with magical, unforgettable images.
LibraryThing member satyridae
Lovely little old-fashioned ghost story full of eccentric characters. English kidlit done very well.
LibraryThing member yareader2
This is a book I held onto for a long time. It was a gift and I read it as a child and it made an impression on me, but I couldn't say what. Now that I have grown up I know exactly what it meant to me. I found a friend in Tolly. He found all the things that were missing in my childhood. I believe
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this to be a great piece of writing because it is timeless in how it makes the reader feel. Tolly even has to learn about how people dressed differently long ago, no different from my understanding the era this was written in. The main characters are there to hold your hand through all the good, bad , and scary parts. And best of all it leaves you wanting more and the story continues in the next book. Show Less
LibraryThing member paakre
In The Children of Green Knowe, there is only one child really. His name is Tolly, come to visit his great grandmother for the Christmas holiday. Mrs. Oldknow is a dream relation. She gives Tolly lots of freedom to explore the grounds of her castle, and slowly to become acquainted with the ghosts
The relationship between the young boy and the old woman is lovely, with many fits of giggles. Not much happens to Tolly. The action that took place long ago is told through stories told by Mrs. Oldknow. There is one truly thrilling tale of a gypsy horse thief whose mother's curse may still be lingering over the estate.
This book feels like a warm up to future installments. Even though the ghost children lived centuries previous, the book does not read as a time travel novel, or historical fantasy, more of a ghost-fantasy. The whole proceeding is infused with longing for adventure and companionship by a very lonely boy. I think children who don't mind great writing especially descriptive writing of amazing weather would like it very much.
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that live there, three children from long ago.The relationship between the young boy and the old woman is lovely, with many fits of giggles. Not much happens to Tolly. The action that took place long ago is told through stories told by Mrs. Oldknow. There is one truly thrilling tale of a gypsy horse thief whose mother's curse may still be lingering over the estate.
This book feels like a warm up to future installments. Even though the ghost children lived centuries previous, the book does not read as a time travel novel, or historical fantasy, more of a ghost-fantasy. The whole proceeding is infused with longing for adventure and companionship by a very lonely boy. I think children who don't mind great writing especially descriptive writing of amazing weather would like it very much.
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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
I dunno. For some reason this just didn't quite hit me. I guess because I didn't feel I got to really know Tolly as an individual, or any of the characters really. The stories were interesting, the writing was graceful, the concepts enchanting - but it just felt, erm, superficial? bland? I haven't
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decided yet whether I'll read the second - I own it, but I may register & release it through bookcrossing & swap unread. Show Less
LibraryThing member deirdrea
An exquisitely written, wholly involving book, as interesting for adults as for children. It is a ghost story - but eerie, rather than frightening. I was fortunate to have a classroom teacher read this to me when I was about 9 years old, and I've read it many times since, especially around
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Christmas time. Just remarkably beautiful -- I think you won't find better writing anywhere, for any age. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
Well not quite 4 stars, but nearly. The story is a bit twee but has lived with me ever since - much helped by the illustrations (woodcuts?) by her son Peter Boston. They are quite frightening and a glimpse of what Lucy Boston could have unleashed on us children if she had so minded. I think I
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should try one of her adult books and maybe visit the house near Huntingdon. Show Less
LibraryThing member richard_dury
The Children of Green Knowe, the first of Boston's six books about the fictional manor house, Green Knowe, was a commended runner up for the 1954 Carnegie Medal.[7][a] The novel concerns the visit of a young boy, Toseland, to the magical house, Green Knowe. The house is tremendously old, dating
Over the course of the novel, Tolly explores the rich history of his family, which pervades the house like magic. He begins to encounter what appear to be the spirits of three of his forebears—an earlier Toseland (nicknamed Toby), Alexander, and an earlier Linnet—who lived in the reign of Charles II. These meetings are for the most part not frightening to Tolly; they continually reinforce his sense of belonging that the house engenders. In the evenings, Mrs. Oldknow (whom Tolly calls "Granny") entertains Tolly with stories about the house and those who lived there. Surrounded by the rivers and the floodwater, sealed within its ancient walls, Green Knowe is a sanctuary of peace and stability in a world of unnerving change. (Wikipedia)
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from the Norman Conquest, and has been continually inhabited by Toseland's ancestors, the d'Aulneaux family, later called Oldknowe or Oldknow. Toseland crosses floodwaters by night to reach the house, to spend the Christmas holidays with his great-grandmother, Linnet Oldknow, who addresses him as "Tolly".Over the course of the novel, Tolly explores the rich history of his family, which pervades the house like magic. He begins to encounter what appear to be the spirits of three of his forebears—an earlier Toseland (nicknamed Toby), Alexander, and an earlier Linnet—who lived in the reign of Charles II. These meetings are for the most part not frightening to Tolly; they continually reinforce his sense of belonging that the house engenders. In the evenings, Mrs. Oldknow (whom Tolly calls "Granny") entertains Tolly with stories about the house and those who lived there. Surrounded by the rivers and the floodwater, sealed within its ancient walls, Green Knowe is a sanctuary of peace and stability in a world of unnerving change. (Wikipedia)
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
I do love Children of Green Knowe - I like Tolly, and enjoy his adventures. The matter-of-fact way magic just sort of happens is lovely. I also love the descriptions - the everyday English countryside, and all the bits of secret around Green Knowe. And a lovely ending, after one very scary scene. I
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know how it ends - I've read it probably a dozen times over the years - and I still hold my breath and shiver in that dark night. Show Less
LibraryThing member ashleytylerjohn
Weird, weird book. I'm looking forward to reading what others have to say about it.
First off (and it's not the book's fault) for some reason I was expecting a kid's time-travel fantasy, a la Tom's Midnight Garden or something like. That didn't happen.
Instead, it was a beautifully written but
Here's what happens, no real spoilers because nothing actually takes place: a boy goes to a house and gradually gets to know the ghosts who live there. Or (perhaps I've read too many adult novels, I am 53 after all) is he simply going mad, along with his mad great-grandmother? Are the events that happen real, a shared delusion, or are they kind of unintentionally gas-lighting each other?
(You can see from my issues above that the book is too sophisticated (and dull) for the "riding horsie" set).
There's a hint of a plot (a tragic curse!) but it doesn't take place until 80% of the way through, doesn't make sense, and is shortly wrapped up.
And yet the writing is wonderful, so long as you're not particularly interested in interesting events happening in an exciting order. Here's a lovely paragraph of Tolly's first visit to the dreary local church:
"the first impression that he received was the mixed smell of incense and clammy mold, with the mold predominating. There were a few other people there, dingy, unromantic townsfolk, no children at all. The church was battered and dank, festooned with cobwebs round the windows, carpeted like a kitchen with brown coconut matting and bleakly lit with electric light ... there was a huge picture hanging on the wall on his left that was so horrifying that he kept one hand up to the side of his face like a blinker in case he should see it by accident."
I mean, you couldn't ask for a clearer description. I see that church! But without pacing and a plot, and without a sense that the author was aware that her cast seemed congenitally insane, it's all a bit unsettling. (It doesn't help that I've just read Joan Aiken's Black Hearts in Battersea, which is very well-plotted, lively, and bursting with vivid characters.)
This is a nitpick, but it also troubles me that a very elderly lady lives alone in a lovely old manor house with apparently no servants (just an outside gardener/handyman/cliché named Boggis), or are we meant to infer them as well? Weird book!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
First off (and it's not the book's fault) for some reason I was expecting a kid's time-travel fantasy, a la Tom's Midnight Garden or something like. That didn't happen.
Instead, it was a beautifully written but
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strangely, strangely plotted novel where almost nothing happens. I have no idea what the market for this book is/was. The protagonist is a boy who actually gets excited about sitting in a rocking horse for half an hour at a time, and yet any child for whom that occupation would actually appeal would be years too young to follow this story. Here's what happens, no real spoilers because nothing actually takes place: a boy goes to a house and gradually gets to know the ghosts who live there. Or (perhaps I've read too many adult novels, I am 53 after all) is he simply going mad, along with his mad great-grandmother? Are the events that happen real, a shared delusion, or are they kind of unintentionally gas-lighting each other?
(You can see from my issues above that the book is too sophisticated (and dull) for the "riding horsie" set).
There's a hint of a plot (a tragic curse!) but it doesn't take place until 80% of the way through, doesn't make sense, and is shortly wrapped up.
And yet the writing is wonderful, so long as you're not particularly interested in interesting events happening in an exciting order. Here's a lovely paragraph of Tolly's first visit to the dreary local church:
"the first impression that he received was the mixed smell of incense and clammy mold, with the mold predominating. There were a few other people there, dingy, unromantic townsfolk, no children at all. The church was battered and dank, festooned with cobwebs round the windows, carpeted like a kitchen with brown coconut matting and bleakly lit with electric light ... there was a huge picture hanging on the wall on his left that was so horrifying that he kept one hand up to the side of his face like a blinker in case he should see it by accident."
I mean, you couldn't ask for a clearer description. I see that church! But without pacing and a plot, and without a sense that the author was aware that her cast seemed congenitally insane, it's all a bit unsettling. (It doesn't help that I've just read Joan Aiken's Black Hearts in Battersea, which is very well-plotted, lively, and bursting with vivid characters.)
This is a nitpick, but it also troubles me that a very elderly lady lives alone in a lovely old manor house with apparently no servants (just an outside gardener/handyman/cliché named Boggis), or are we meant to infer them as well? Weird book!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
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LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
Well not quite 4 stars, but nearly. The story is a bit twee but has lived with me ever since - much helped by the illustrations (woodcuts?) by her son Peter Boston. They are quite frightening and a glimpse of what Lucy Boston could have unleashed on us children if she had so minded. I think I
Show More
should try one of her adult books and maybe visit the house near Huntingdon. Show Less
LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC
The boy is on a visit at a family home. He has lots of adventures and run-ins with ghosts. Fun tale for kids.
LibraryThing member LarisaAWhite
A young boy (Tolly) visits his grandmother in an old English mannor house called Green Knowe. He meets and eventually befriends the ghosts of the long-dead children, who had lived in Green Knowe centuries before.
LibraryThing member ana.j.diaz.1
It is a wonderful to share with our children book, I really liked what I had never read, it truly is a fantastic story for children and to have in our collection of books to share with my grandchildren.
LibraryThing member Crowyhead
I'm so glad this book has been reprinted -- it's a truly enchanting children's fantasy novel, with just the right amount of creepiness and mystery. It's also a great one to read aloud.
LibraryThing member saroz
This is a hard one for me to review. I think if you read it as a child, it's going to have a really strong pull - it speaks to something about what it is to be a small, imaginative child, particularly a small, imaginative, only child, that I don't think I've ever seen represented in prose before.
It's a relatively free-form story, almost a "sandbox" story in the way we talk about video games where characters can explore environments at will and at their own pace. Predominantly, it's about a young boy arriving to stay with his great-grandmother at Christmas, and exploring the house and grounds that have been in his family for over 400 years. He and the great-grandmother strike up a special relationship, and she tells him about a trio of his ancestors who lived as happy children in the same house. They died in the Great Plague, and soon, by playing with their toys and engaging in their games, the boy realizes that their ghosts are still there.
This is not a scary book, although there are one or two dark moments. The ghost children are kind presences, and the overall tone is a dreamy one that pushes gently toward whimsy. The protagonist, Tolly, is fascinated by everything he sees; his mind goes into overdrive as he imagines how his ghostly relatives were inspired by the same house, the same gardens, the same topiaries. He leaves sugar cubes for a legendary horse in the stable and pretends that a ceramic mouse is alive in his pocket. It isn't really a question whether or not he's dreaming, or whether or not the children are really there - it's all kind of a blur, without a lot of boundaries, and mostly we are simply aware that both Tolly and his grandmother are pleased by what they experience. There is a great love of the natural world, too; does it really matter if the squirrel and the mole and the hare that Tolly sees are the same ones those long-ago children named and tamed? No, it doesn't - everything is in its place and all's right with the world.
I'll be honest and say that I, personally, usually prefer a children's book with just a little bit more to it. I don't mind the "sandbox" idea of drifting without a really defined plot, but I think it would work better for me with some slightly more contrasting characters involved. The most enjoyable bits of the book, to me, are the rare ones where the gardener, Boggis, brings his somewhat earthy pragmatism into the "airy" world Tolly inhabits (and which his grandmother supports). There's a gentle conflict of personalities there that is very appealing without being abrasive in any way. Having one, more central character exhibit a stronger down-to-earth perspective, or even a dry sense of humor, would have punctured some of the "fairy tale"-ness that, for me, simply goes on too long without tonal variation. I can see how other people might like that undisturbed "golden glow," though.
Happily, I think the final quarter moves the story from merely good to very good, at least for me. The magic (or whatever you wish to call it) is at its height, and there's a sequence of genuine terror, offset by the joy of a Christmas Day that includes feeding all the animals who find their homes on the grounds. At that point I'm content to let the book be as dreamy and sweet as it wants to be without any further complaint: after all, it's Christmas!
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It's a favorite book of a close friend of mine, who read it when young, but I didn't read it for the first time until I was almost 30. It doesn't have the same pull for me - I don't really see how it could.It's a relatively free-form story, almost a "sandbox" story in the way we talk about video games where characters can explore environments at will and at their own pace. Predominantly, it's about a young boy arriving to stay with his great-grandmother at Christmas, and exploring the house and grounds that have been in his family for over 400 years. He and the great-grandmother strike up a special relationship, and she tells him about a trio of his ancestors who lived as happy children in the same house. They died in the Great Plague, and soon, by playing with their toys and engaging in their games, the boy realizes that their ghosts are still there.
This is not a scary book, although there are one or two dark moments. The ghost children are kind presences, and the overall tone is a dreamy one that pushes gently toward whimsy. The protagonist, Tolly, is fascinated by everything he sees; his mind goes into overdrive as he imagines how his ghostly relatives were inspired by the same house, the same gardens, the same topiaries. He leaves sugar cubes for a legendary horse in the stable and pretends that a ceramic mouse is alive in his pocket. It isn't really a question whether or not he's dreaming, or whether or not the children are really there - it's all kind of a blur, without a lot of boundaries, and mostly we are simply aware that both Tolly and his grandmother are pleased by what they experience. There is a great love of the natural world, too; does it really matter if the squirrel and the mole and the hare that Tolly sees are the same ones those long-ago children named and tamed? No, it doesn't - everything is in its place and all's right with the world.
I'll be honest and say that I, personally, usually prefer a children's book with just a little bit more to it. I don't mind the "sandbox" idea of drifting without a really defined plot, but I think it would work better for me with some slightly more contrasting characters involved. The most enjoyable bits of the book, to me, are the rare ones where the gardener, Boggis, brings his somewhat earthy pragmatism into the "airy" world Tolly inhabits (and which his grandmother supports). There's a gentle conflict of personalities there that is very appealing without being abrasive in any way. Having one, more central character exhibit a stronger down-to-earth perspective, or even a dry sense of humor, would have punctured some of the "fairy tale"-ness that, for me, simply goes on too long without tonal variation. I can see how other people might like that undisturbed "golden glow," though.
Happily, I think the final quarter moves the story from merely good to very good, at least for me. The magic (or whatever you wish to call it) is at its height, and there's a sequence of genuine terror, offset by the joy of a Christmas Day that includes feeding all the animals who find their homes on the grounds. At that point I'm content to let the book be as dreamy and sweet as it wants to be without any further complaint: after all, it's Christmas!
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Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1954
Physical description
128 p.; 7.64 inches
ISBN
0571202020 / 9780571202027
Local notes
Tolly's great grandmother isn't a witch, but both she and her old house, Green Knowe, are full of a very special kind of magic. There are other children in the house - children who were happy there centuries before. Running around Green Knowe's moat, gardens and mysterious rooms, Tolly slowly discovers them, their toys and animals, and their wonderful stories.
Other editions
The Children of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston (Hardcover)