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Rating: 
Summary: Not a review. Amazon folks, please read.
Review: Dear Amazon, I wrote the orginal (and so far only) review for "The Garden Behind The Moon" by Howard Pyle on this site. From the begining, my name was credited as the author of the review. Today I looked at it, and saw I've been reduced to an "Amazon.com customer". Can I go back to being listed as the author of the review? I am "Chris Huston, Waterford, PA." Thanks, Chris
Rating:
Summary: Not a review. Amazon folks, please read.
Review: Dear Amazon, I wrote the orginal (and so far only) review for "The Garden Behind The Moon" by Howard Pyle on this site. From the begining, my name was credited as the author of the review. Today I looked at it, and saw I've been reduced to an "Amazon.com customer". Can I go back to being listed as the author of the review? I am "Chris Huston, Waterford, PA." Thanks, Chris
Rating:
Summary: A genuine fantasy classic
Review: I bought two copies of this book, one to keep and one to share, because I loved it so much. I've been a Tolkien fan for 34 years, and have tried mostly in vain since then to find other fantasy stories I could love. I suspect, though I don't know, that this story may have influenced Tolkien (it predates him.) If you loved Roverandom and Smith of Wooton Major and Book of Lost Tales, you'll love this haunting story. One thing I especially liked is that the hero of the story, though it's not entirely clear, seems to be a Downs child. It is clear that he was modeled after Pyle's own son, who died young. This would be an inspiring story for a child who is a little different from other children.
Rating:
Summary: A genuine fantasy classic
Review: I bought two copies of this book, one to keep and one to share, because I loved it so much. I've been a Tolkien fan for 34 years, and have tried mostly in vain since then to find other fantasy stories I could love. I suspect, though I don't know, that this story may have influenced Tolkien (it predates him.) If you loved Roverandom and Smith of Wooton Major and Book of Lost Tales, you'll love this haunting story. One thing I especially liked is that the hero of the story, though it's not entirely clear, seems to be a Downs child. It is clear that he was modeled after Pyle's own son, who died young. This would be an inspiring story for a child who is a little different from other children.
Rating: 
Summary: A children's classic, but different from Pyle's usual style.
Review: I'm very lucky. I have an original edition of this book...published in 1903. My grandfather read it to my father, who read it to me, and now I've read it to my children. As much as I loved this book as a boy, I love it more as an adult. This is a story of a shy, sensitive child who endures the taunts of other children, and who runs away to meet the man in the moon, live in the moonhouse, and ultimately to become a man and claim his destiny in the garden on the other side of the moon. Modern kids who live on Nintendo and R-rated movies will struggle at first to adjust to the delicate childishness (in the best sense) of the language and plot, but this is a book that is hard not to love. Read it, and you'll never look at the reflection of moonlight on the water in the same way again. Pyle's illustrations are at least as valuable as his text. They add to the sense of tender melancholy that pervades this book. Pyle fans who are used to his swashbuckling adventures are in for something very different here. The best way for a child to absorb this book is sitting next to his mom or dad on the couch, an arm around his shoulder, listening to the words while studying the pictures. If Pyle's other books are like Wagner's The Ride Of The Valkeries, then The Garden Behind The Moon is like Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopedies.
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