The Wind Boy

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable Magic
Review: I am so excited to find that this favorite and haunting book from my childhood has been reprinted. I've attempted to find a copy over the decades. My book was borrowed when I was a kid and never returned. I just discovered the reprint and ordered several copies. This is a magical read for kids of any generation.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable Magic
Review: I am so excited to find that this favorite and haunting book from my childhood has been reprinted. I've attempted to find a copy over the decades. My book was borrowed when I was a kid and never returned. I just discovered the reprint and ordered several copies. This is a magical read for kids of any generation.

Rating:
Summary: Enchanting. I couldn't put it down!
Review: I bought this book to read to my 5-year old as an alternative to the some of the ridiculously banal children's books out there. He loved it, but so did I. I found myself re-reading the book on my own while running on the treadmill (to keep myself from getting bored). It's so full of beautiful prose and magic and earth and a little of everything. From the first paragaph, I was hooked:

Chapter 1 - The girl from the mountains
"In a spring twilight a young girl was walking down a village street. Just at a glance anyone might know she was a stranger there. For one thing her dress was like nobody's else's. It was the color of sunlight on a brown forest path when the sun is low behind the trees... Do you wonder that people turned to look after her?"

Rating:
Summary: An antidote to today
Review: If your family life is anywhere near as hectic as ours, then a bedtime read of this book is a wonderful way to bring peace and happiness to sleepy children. Her book "The House Above The Trees" has been our favorite so far, but all of this author's stories bring a great sense of comfort to little ones old enough to sit through chapter books. The stories also fit well with the themes of Waldorf education. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A new family favorite for us!
Review: My children were eight and four when we discovered this little gem for a read-aloud together. It was a lovely time. A year later, my five year old will still recall some of the scenes or events from the book. I recommend it to all families!

Rating:
Summary: Nice story
Review: One of the relative few pre-Tolkien fantasies, originally published in the 1920s, "Wind Boy" is substantially more juvenile than books of that sparse fantasy era. Despite a slightly dated feel, it's a cute little read that children may appreciate as a bedtime story.

A strange girl called Nan arrives in response to an ad for a housekeeper, put out by a refugee family in an idyllic little village. The only problem is a mysterious figure, wearing a cloak and a frightening mask, that is roaming around the neighborhood and scaring the kids. Nan drives the Masker away, then helps out the overworked mother and her two children, Gentian and Kay.

It is soon revealed that Nan is not all she seems. She brings the two children into the fantastical Clear Land to be fitted for silver and gold sandals that can walk on the air. They also befriend the Wind Boy, a beautiful young boy with a pair of purple wings. Gentian and Kay continue their jaunts into the Clear Land with their friends, until the identity of the Masker threatens all of them.

This is a cute little fantasy; the style of it, which includes constant addresses from the author to the readers, is somewhat dated, as is the idyllic village life with such career-named characters like "Artist" or "Policeman." There is no family strife, problematic parents, and there are no villains. However, if the young readers do not dislike these elements -- or lack of them -- then they may like this book. It's ideal for very young kids, as there are no plot complexities or frightening elements.

The writing style is somewhat flat, as often the author addresses the readers rather than describing, for example, Gentian's transitions into the Clear Land. However, the biggest bonus are intriguing scenes such as the weaving of the "starry-brightness," as well as the charming little illustrations.

A cute early fantasy for young kids with a high nostalgia factor. For all sweetness and light, try reading this.

Rating:
Summary: Magical Tale from A Clear-Eyed Author
Review: The Wind Boy is not my absolute favorite of Ethel Cook Eliot's work, but it's a marvelous story for young children with creative minds and very well written - and an unsung classic. It's also a blessing that one publisher wised up to the great loss to our generation of the difficulty finding her books - best among them I'd say is "House on the Edge of Things", also try to get your hands on a copy of "House Above the Trees". For young adults, "The Vanishing Comrade" is an ABSOLUTE MUST!! and this book is easy to obtain on www.bookfinder.com (Amazon is one of many booksellers listed there).

The basic concept inherent in most of Eliot's books is that all life is interconnected (yet she takes no particular religious tack whatsoever, so the books are truly universal) and that most people (EVEN KIDS!) are simply too jaded to see it, and therefore our blurred vision holds us back from seeing most of the beauty in life. Eliot's characters, however, have clear vision, so we see what some of what they see - a fantasy world unparalleled in modern fantasy lit, in it's idyllic vision. In "The Wind Boy" Nan comes out of the mountains seeking this particular family, the children clearly in need and in a painful situation, their father apparently lost. She teaches the children what we all need to be taught - she brings magic to their lives. The children go on to share the magic with others. What more should we ask of our own children?

I can't imagine a better gift to share with children than Eliot's literature, and while I make no claims at being an expert, I have run the Children's section at a Borders store, I'm a sometime storyteller and I'm a huge collector of children's/young adult lit. If you want a picture book for young kids, and you can't find Eliot's "House" books (they are almost impossible to come by at any price) try Seymour Leichman's "The Boy Who Could Sing Pictures" (also out of print but easily available through Amazon or Bookfinder.

I bless you to see with clear eyes.