Rating: 
Summary: Be careful; don't give it to children of alcoholics.
Review: You will be surprized that someone would take the trouble to write this, but I read Elsie Dinsmore as a child (I am now 43), and it was a terrible book to read, if you are the child of an alcoholic, as I was. Elsie's father is a terrible drunk, in the story. Elsie turns to God, and essentially cures her father's drunkenness with prayer. I was traumatized (a harsh word, but one that does apply here) by this book, because I prayed and prayed after reading it, but of course was unable to alter my own father's conduct. This book comprised my whole childhood theology, and taught me to believe that God's promises could not be trusted, and worse, that there was something the matter, or inadequate, with my own prayers. So be careful who you give this book to. It can do real damage, because it gives a simplistic answer to a deeply complicated problem. It also encourages children to believe they can assist their alcoholic parent, which is of course the main message the alcoholic wants them to believe.
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