The Railway Children
by Edith Nesbitt
Sea Star Books, 1906
So many things happen in this tale of three children and their mother. They have moved from their wealthy villa near London to an isolated village somewhere in the English countryside. They are suddenly very poor and their father is mysteriously away for a long time.
Being poor doesn’t seem to bother the children as they are enjoying the freedom of exploring the countryside and are especially enamored with the railway that goes by. They make friends with the station master, the porter, and especially the “old gentleman” they wave to everyday as he rides the 9:15.
The children, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis, are normal, everyday children with plenty of arguing and mis-behaving. But they manage to have lots of fun. The book is filled with their heroic adventures such as these:
- They witness a landslide onto the train tracks and then attempt to signal the oncoming train
- They befriend an old bedraggled old man who speaks no English
- They rescue a boy from inside the railway tunnel
Although the book was written over a hundred years ago, I believe it is still appealing for children today. It’s probably best for readers age 10 to 12. (The children in the story are about 12, 10, 8.) It’s written in the style of a storyteller with occasional asides to the “Gentle Reader”. Ideally, it would be best as a Read Aloud book – perhaps after dinner, a chapter at a time. Best would be to have it read by someone with a beautiful English accent.
I chose this book as my first in the Decades 09 Challenge – decade of the 1900’s.
7 comments
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January 20, 2009 at 6:01 am
fleurfisher
I love “The Railway Children” – the book, and the film! We had the story on record too I was a child and you are right, it does work very well read aloud.
January 20, 2009 at 7:06 am
Wanda
I must check to see if our library has this, my daughter loves reading stories about children from long ago. Thanks for the review!
January 21, 2009 at 1:06 pm
bookworm
this does sound good for kids, great review.
January 22, 2009 at 11:55 am
Short Story: The Bristol Bowl by Edith Nesbit « Fleur Fisher reads
[…] books and I was reminded of her by a very interesting piece on Justine Picardie’s blog and this post by Margot at Joyfully Retired. Thank you […]
January 24, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Framed
I loved this book. I’ve read several of Nesbit’s book since but this remains my favorite. The dialogue between the children is so much fun. Thanks for bringing up such a good memory.
January 26, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Saturday Review of Books: January 24, 2009 at Semicolon
[…] Books (Shooting the Moon)47. Natasha @ Maw Books (Savvy)48. Natasha @ Maw Books (Skeleton Creek)49. Margot (The Railway Children)50. Natasha @ Maw Books (Alvin Ho)51. Margot (Up Close and Dangerous)52. gautami tripathy […]
April 24, 2012 at 4:34 pm
ahmad
Hi… I am also retired from the art of writing.
I had written books for children ….
Hope to hear more from you …