Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Fairytale for All Ages
Review: Sylvie has been a 12-year-old princess in her story THE GREAT GOOD THING since 1917. More than eighty years is a long time to still enjoy telling the story that was once fresh and new, to readers. Yes, her story is exciting, and she's the heroine, but that's where the problem is. Sylvie's story is always exciting, in the same exact way. For once Sylvie wants to get away from her beloved, yet old, story, and to explore the world outside of her book. So Sylvie does something to begin her journey. She breaks the cardinal rule of all storybook characters the world over. She looks up at the reader. By doing that, Sylvie begins a journey that she never expected. One that takes her through all different adventures and terrain, and will help her to accomplish the greatest great good thing imaginable.I found THE GREAT GOOD THING to be a very interesting fairytale that will be loved by children and adults alike, as the heroine, Sylvie, is so exciting and intelligent. However, the constant switches from Sylvie's storybook adventures, to the subconscious mind of the reader, and her dreams, are something that could easily confuse a small child, as they are quite sudden. Overall this was a fascinating story that will be loved for generations and generations. Erika Sorocco
Rating: 
Summary: The Great Good Thing
Review: The Great Good Thing is a wonderful story for all ages and one of my favorite books! It combines fantasy and adventure, dreams and friendship. This is truly one of the best books of all time!
Rating:
Summary: The Great Good Thing
Review: The recommended age of readers is 8-12 because if you are under eight then it will be hard to understand and if you are over twelve it might not be interesting. The genre of this book is Fantasy. Townley likes to write with lots of detail such as the new castle is tilting and he describes what it looks like and why it is tilting. Townley opens up the story to a girl named Sylvie who is a very adventurous and reclusive girl who has been 12 years old for 80 years. She is a storybook character so it is almost like she is caught in time so she stays the same age all the time. Sylvie thinks that if there is a window of opportunity even if it is a dangerous one then you should take it. Sylvie's home is a castle in a storybook called The Great Good Thing. Sylvie's adventure begins when she disobeys the cardinal storybook character rule and looks at Claire the reader. Sylvie embarks on an amazing adventure from then on in the book. Sylvie gets herself trapped into her own adventure because something horrible happened to their book and so everyone had to flee to Sylvie's adventure. So now they have no place to stay except for where Sylvie has adventured. See how Sylvie changes from looking at everything so boring to looking at everything a brand new adventure. See if Sylvie will ever get out, by reading the book. Townley has a craving for fantasy as he writes another fantasy book called Into The Labyrinth. I learned that you have to take your chances because I think it's important that you live your life the way you want it. So if you want to do something then you have to take chances to do it. I think that this book is really good because it had a really good description of all the dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: must read
Review: This book is unbelievable. As soon as you read the first page, you're drawn into a beautiful world full of courage, truth, and compassion. This is a must read for children and adults alike. Princess Sylvie is a character in a book, in this book. The story opens with all of the characters bored and depressed. There hasn't been a reader in years! They brush the dust from their dresses and wait for a new reader. Finally, the cover lifts and Princess Sylvie's book opens. I will let you discover the rest of this story. This is a beautiful piece of literature, a must have for any reader.
Rating:
Summary: A book with Life
Review: This is a great book. It's about Sylvie and her parent's kingdom. This may sound like a fairytale but it's not. The kingdom is a book. They live in the book and they are the characters. Townley manages to introduce you into a whole new world of the readers, the characters and the mind, and there is still a wonderful story between the description of how one character gets pinned down by a huge finger when the reader uses her finger as a bookmark, and how another character hinds himself between parentheses. The characters say things to believable that I found myself being careful to not let my finger rest on any words for fear that I might squish a character. This is a wonderful book and I would recommend it to everyone in sight!
Rating:
Summary: My Newbery pick - already!
Review: This is so rich and wonderful. Townley imagines what the characters in a favorite book do when the book is closed -- and when it is read. He uses memory and imagination brilliantly, turns a lot of classic storytelling tropes on their heads, and creates a book destined to be universally loved. I am already hoping this will be a Newbery contender (the American Library Association award for best book for children).
Rating:
Summary: Good, but weird ending
Review: This was a good book, but I think that it left you with a sence of confusion. There were many questions that went unanswered. It is a good read, but I just wasn't expecting it to end so quickly.
Rating:
Summary: This book is worthwhile.
Review: Welcome to a world of fantasy, fun, and fulfillment --- only possible through the realm of books and imaginations. This is the world of THE GREAT GOOD THING by Roderick Townley. Characters come alive in dreams, taking readers to never before seen places, exploring the unknown areas of the mind and experiencing new sensations.
Our story begins with Claire. She is the first "reader" of the novel --- after her grandmother, that is. As Claire cracks open the book, the characters scurry to their places in the pages. One of these characters, a girl Claire's age, calls out to her from within the book. And so begins a friendship between Claire and Sylvie.
I continued with the book because I liked the characters, even if I could not suspend my disbelief about the story. Both Claire, the "real" girl, and Sylvie, her imaginary (or not) friend, are heartfelt creations. Their escapades are genuine. Author Roderick writes most of the action not within our world, the world of Claire and her grandmother, but within the magic kingdom of the book within the book of THE GREAT GOOD THING and its characters. Sylvie's perilous journey to save her world is engrossing, and her dismay at marrying Prince Riggeloff is deftly written.
Our stories, our novels, will be passed on from generation to generation, and at some other time, in some other place, somebody just may be reading this very review. And somebody may be reading THE GREAT GOOD THING. I say enjoy, because this book is worthwhile. Just read it with a grain of salt --- or maybe just a big imagination.
--- Reviewed by Lisa Marx
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