Rating: Summary: Great for all ages Review: I orginally purchased this book for my eight year old daughter, but ended up reading it myself. The story is entertaining, the characters are completely engaging and the twists and turns in the plot kept me glued to the pages. By the end of the story, I had more respect for the wolves than for the two villains who, as it turned out, I loved to hate. As in most stories of this kind, the heroes are preciously good and the bad guys are horribly terribly bad, but this just adds to the fun of this creepy, adventurous, suspenseful tale. Read this tucked into a warm bed with a cup of hot chocolate.
Rating: Summary: Wonderful characters, loads of fun Review: When I first read this book I was ten or eleven...I recommended it to my then best friend, and she too loved it. We used to play "Bonnie and Sylvia" (I was Bonnie) at recess. Anyways, this book will totally engross its readers. The strong heroines are amazing, and how someone couldn't love Simon is beyond me. The good guys are SO good, but they have quirks and eccentricities that make them loveable nonetheless, and the bad guys just drip evil. I think the book is made by its primary characters, though. If it weren't for Bonnie's charisma, Sylvia's believability, even if she's not the magnetic one, and Simon's goodness I would probably have dismissed it as Dickensian sop. However, since the heroes take charge, and although they face great adversity, they are never "put upon", I really enjoyed this book. I think it's a must read for young girls. It's less action-packed and fun and adventurous than the other books in the series, but it certainly inspired me enough at recess!
Rating: Summary: My thot on wolves of Willoughby chase Review: I thought the book was ok,its not the best I have ever read.I really like the part were they were in the cart and trying to get away from the wovles,shooting muskets at them.I think the wolves should have got them thow. My other favorit part is where the skeliton was hanging on the door.The book had its down's to it was kinda boring thow,I fell asleep on it to but some parts were ok. But other parts were boring,like when they just sit there and talk and dont do anything the hole chapter
Rating: Summary: What I think about the The wolves of willoughby Chase Review: I think the book is ok so far,I havent gotton really far in it yet.But its a good book and I hope they can git away from the wolves,but my favorit part sdo far has been where Sylvia, and the others were in a cart trying to run from the wolves and the men were shooting muskets at them.But all and all its a really good book.
Rating: Summary: review from a 10 year old boy Review: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a phenomenal book. I really liked its suspense and excitement. The story is about two seven-year-old cousins, Bonnie and Sylvia, who are left with a cruel and evil governess. The governess, Miss Slighcarp, sells all the furniture and Bonnie's toys, and then sends the girls to a horrible orphanage. It is a must read book.
Rating: Summary: Rags to riches to rags to... Review: There is almost no basis for this whatsoever, but my mind kept screaming "Jane Eyre! Jane Eyre!" as I read 'Wolves'. Maybe it was the fact that the two heroines, Sylvia and Bonnie, were just so relentlessly GOOD. And I think that's where the book didn't really succeed for me. I couldn't believe in the protagonists - even starving and sick in the boarding school they are kind and approximately uncomplaining. There's also an obvious Romantic streak throughout, which recalls Bronte; however I shouldn't be surprised here, as Aiken satirises the 19th century novelists. However, it worried me just a little...'nature', apart from the wolves, is typically 'good', and human nature is unerringly fixed; the villians are eternally bad, the protagonists almost able to do no wrong. Simon seems also to recall Dicken (The Secret Garden), the happy, wholesome lad living close to nature who makes a good friend and can turn his hand to anything. Somewhat more complex than Dicken, he nonetheless encapsulates my problem with this novel; it is simply too one-dimensional. The adventure is good, but not very exciting because it is tempered by the knowledge that everyone will live 'happily ever after'. In my opinion, the series only picks up when Dido Twite enters, in Black Hearts in Battersea; here Aiken has found a character who can be more than a vessel, as Bonnie, Sylvia and Simon undeniably are.
Rating: Summary: A Family Tradition Review: Nearly forty years ago my mother read "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" to me. Brimming with excitement in a beautifully crafted tale, I loved every single page. I later read it myself, and although I was a voracious reader, to this day it has remained my favorite book. As a child I looked forward to reading it aloud to my own children. Twenty years later, the scene repeated itself. I took great pleasure in reading "Wolves" to my own daughter, a bookaholic in her own right. It became her favorite book, and she read it several times herself. She is now an adult, looking forward to reading "Wolves" aloud to her children. "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" has left us both with lifelong memories. I am now getting another copy as a gift to a friend, to share with her children.
Rating: Summary: A Great Adventure Tale of Cooperation Overcoming Danger! Review: Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute. To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a younger child. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was one of her picks. We discovered this wonderful book through a school assignment. It is not a book that I would have expected that our daughter would have liked because the young heroines face terrible trials. She found the book very exciting and rewarding though, and I think you will, too. Bonnie Green has lived in the lap of luxury in the manor house of Willoughby Chase in the English countryside. Her father, Sir Willoughby, is the richest man for five counties. She has all the toys, clothes, and ponies that anyone could want, and indulgent parents who encourage her to try things out. There is much love in the house, both from her parents and the dedicated household workers. Because Bonnie's mother, Lady Sophia, has become ill, her parents are about to leave on a sea voyage to restore her health. Sir Willoughby has asked his attorney, Mr. Gripe, to locate a suitable governess and he recommends one who is a fourth cousin once removed of Bonnie's, Miss Slighcarp, who arrives the night before the parents leave. To keep Bonnie company, Sir Willoughby has also invited Bonnie's cousin Sylvia to stay. Both will be tutored by Miss Slighcarp, who will also run the estate. Cousin Sylvia is an orphan has been living with Sir Willoughby's elderly sister, Aunt Jane. They have been barely surviving in genteel poverty, and Aunt Jane makes new clothes for the trip from her curtains. Sylvia has to make a terrible journey by herself on the train. It is freezing cold, and wolves attack the train. One breaks the window and comes into the compartment. Fortunately, a fellow passenger, Mr. Grimshaw, subdues and kills the wolf before it can do any damage. He loans her a traveling rug to help keep her warm. Then he is injured when a suitcase hits him in the head. Bonnie insists that they bring him to Willoughby Chase for the doctor to look at. The servants have to shoot at the wolves to keep them away from the horses on the ride back to Willoughby Chase. As soon as Bonnie's parents leave strange things start to happen. Most of the servants are dismissed. Mr. Grimshaw and Miss Slighcarp are looking through all of Sir Willoughby's papers and burning some. And, Miss Slighcarp starts wearing all of Lady Sophia's best gowns! When Bonnie complains, she is locked in a closet with only bread and water for food. Worse treatment soon follows. The story makes a fine development of the concept that there are human wolves who can attack in packs and bring great danger to anyone, even the richest and most powerful. As a result, the reader comes to be appropriately skeptical of the intentions of others. But there are many characters who display good qualities, expecially love, loyalty, generosity, and courage. So the message does not make a young person feel insecure . . . just more cautious. The advice that all parents give to be careful around strangers is seconded in the story, when Mr. Grimshaw turns out to be an accomplice of Miss Slighcarp's in her greedy, evil plot. The adventures that the girls go through are a combination of Oliver Twist, 101 Dalmatians, and a female version of Tom Sawyer. The story is enlivened by the many dramatic pen and ink drawings that accompany the text, and the humorous names for many of the less savory characters. A good discussion to have with your child after you read this book together is how to tell if someone is trustworthy or not. You may also want to use this opportunity to encourage your child to look out for her or his rights, whether the person is a stranger or . . . even a relative. May all be warm and safe from danger . . . especially from human wolves!
Rating: Summary: An escape for all ages Review: I first read this book when I was 7 and still enjoy reading it to this day (at 25). It is a wonderful book to read in order to go somewhere else for a little while.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic! Review: I've read this book and Black Hearts in Battersea. Both are great suspense books mixed with just the right amount of humor. Very British, and loads of fun.
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