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Summary: A book that should be passed on from generation-generation.
Review: After reading my Uncle's copy of "Shadow Castle" numerous times as a child, like my Uncle and Mother did before me. Other family members have read the fantasy time and again as well, yet we could never find another copy, even as I traveled the US shooting videos. Now that the reprint has been published, I have bought a copy for myself and my Mother. Now I am trying to find Marian Cockrell to obtain permission to make this into what could be the best children's fantasy film since "The Wizard of Oz." Anyone knowing of a way to contact her if she is still alive, please let me know.
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Summary: Incredible.
Review: I originally got this book in elementary school in the 1960s. I ordered it through the school from a paperback book club. I must have read it 100 times and could practically recite it by heart. I used to think about it before I drifted off to sleep at night.When I married and moved to another continent, I took the book with me, among college texts, reference books and a very few favorite adult novels. Three years later, I returned home hastily, without many of my possessions, including the book. After a few years, my thoughts drifted back to it and I tried to get another copy, only to find that it was out of print. No one that I asked had ever heard of it. I looked for the book in Salvation Army stores, yard sales, and used bookstores whenever I passed one. I even wrote a letter to the publisher! You can imagine my surprise when I did a search here at Amazon and discovered it was back in print! AND that there were other people who had been as touched by the book as I was! Rereading it after so many years helped me to figure out what is so remarkable about the book. It is fantastically imaginative, yet uses simple language and lacks detail. In a way that no other book has since, it allowed me, as a child reader, to use my imagination to round out the story and fill in the details. The book requires the reader to picture things in her own mind's eye that are not completely explained or described in the book. For that reason, it is a living, highly personal book, and that may explain why readers develop a life long attachment to it. Now that the book is back in print, share it with any child you know. Shadow Castle is a wonderful secret place that will always be there for her, as it has been for me!
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Summary: I wish everyone had a copy.
Review: This book is so timeless and has touched so many lives that only one word can describe it: MAGIC.
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Summary: I thought I would never find it again! But I did!
Review: Dear Amazon, I read this book almost 15 years ago. I wanted to let my younger sister read the book, but none of my local libraries carried it, or knew how to find it. I'm 26 now, a GUY... a registered nurse in law school... but I haven't forgotten the magic contained in the pages of this special book. I want to reread this book... it had me in tears when I finished it... My eyes ate up the text and I was always looking for a sequel. It was one of the most touching experiences that I have ever felt from reading sci-fi/fantasy. Thank you for having it in your database.
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Summary: A wonderful part of my childhood
Review: In 1968, my mother bought me a copy of this book---a slender paperback printed and illustrated in green ink. I loved the book, and thirty years later, read the story to my little girl, who LOVED it. Unfortunately, my original copy is yellowed and brittle, and I was reluctant to let my daughter handle its fragile pages as often as she wished. Imagine my delight when this wonderful book was reprinted. The new version has all the old illustrations, but the ink is black, not the original green. The color illustration from the jacket of the paperback is reprinted inside the new version, but in black and white. Despite these minor changes, I am thrilled to have this old favorite back again. A bit of the plot: a young girl named Lucy meets a kind, but rather mysterious young man named Michael, who tells her the story of Mika, a fairy Prince who falls in love with a mortal woman. This book contains all of the usual elements in a traditional fairytale---a princess abducted by an unpleasant suitor, goblins, a dragon, enchantments, battles between the forces of good and evil---but it is very different from the impersonal stories in typical fairytale books. Marian Cockrell's characters are vivid and unforgettable, and her story is magical, entertaining, and even humorous in parts. Give a copy to an eight year old that you love. You won't be sorry.
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Summary: Loved it too. Give these a try if you love Shadow Castle.
Review: I agree with the others in their reviews, but I wanted to add my two cents worth and recommend some others that are very similar. Soooo, if you love Shadow Castle give the following a try. Of course, some of these are out of print as well. Elizabeth Goudge's "The Little White Horse" and "Linnets and Valerians", the Chronicles of Narnia, and Marie Pope's "The Sherwood Ring" and "Perilous Gard". Good luck and good reading! Would love some recommendations as well!
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Summary: Now I can PROVE this book isn't a figment of my imagination!
Review: As so many here have already stated, this book was a HUGE part of my childhood and I have been looking for a used copy for many years. I am an avid Science Fiction/Fantasy reader to this day (I'm 41 years old) and my very first fantasy was Shadow Castle. I give this wonderful story credit for so much, that I cannot put it into words. Thank God my fiance was looking over my shoulder at the monitor and asked me to type in "you know, that book you've been looking for that you read when you were a kid..." at the Amazon search site. I laughed at him when he suggested it. Silly me. THANK YOU!!!!!
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Summary: I'm so giddy to have it back in my life
Review: I read this book in grade school, over and over. I don't think anybody else got to check it out of the library. I've been searching for the last 15 years and couldn't even find anybody that owned one. (or admitted to it for fear of being borrowed). This is a wonderful oportunity.
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Summary: I'm laughing and crying as I write this...
Review: For more than thirty years I have searched for his book! The only copy in our family has belonged to my sister who won't part with it under any circumstances, but who risked violating copyright laws to photocopy hers so I could share it with my children! Now that it's been republished, I can buy two hardback copies: one to replace her tattered copy (for her children), and one to replace my photocopied "edition" (for my children)!
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Summary: I'm crying and laughing as I read about its republication!
Review: This magical book has lived large in my mind for the past 30+ years: I've been able to quote the last page since I first read it. It's characters were so vivid to me I consider them true childhood friends. When my sister admitted to owning the only copy in our family and to being unwilling to part with it since it is one of her all-time favorites as well, we set out on a mission to find a copy for me. We used every resource we could think of, including used bookstores, antiquarian dealers, estate sales, libraries of all sizes and shapes: all to no avail.
About 3 years ago, in desperation, she photocopied hers for me at a local copy shop (violating all sorts of copyright laws, I'm sure!) so I could share the story with my children. The final chapter to this saga was written about ten minutes ago when my husband said "honey, I just found the coolest site..." and we put in its title "just for grins and chuckles" -- I began crying when it popped up as a 1997 republication, and laughing when I began reading all the other reviews: I am not alone, and I never was! We have all shared a timeless book, and many of us have endured frustration and crazy looks from those who have not been lucky enough to read it for themselves, when we have tried to obtain an elusive copy for ourselves.
I am overjoyed and humbled by this morning's events! Proof exists that anything is possiible if you live long enough. I go now to order one for myself, and one for my sister!
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