Two boys in a canoe
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This book belongs with some of the English classics about rivers and boats, from "The Wind in the Willows" to "Three Men in a Boat". The descriptions of the long summer days spent searching for treasure up and down the River Say (I believe this is the Cam) are truly enchanting.
Like the river itself, the book has depths beyond the mystery and adventure. The subject of friendship is central to the book and the characters are all very well drawn, from the two central protagonists, the likeable "everyboy" David and the more complex adolescent Adam, to the supporting roles of Squeak Wilson and Adam's eccentric relatives.
Finally, what makes this book particularly worthwhile is that the author does not shy away from themes integral to life from class differences to the meaning of poverty to mental illness to death, which makes the story as relevant today as when it was written.
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a wonderful, charming adventure story
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I read this book when I was a child, and it was one of my favourites. Now, thirty plus years later, I have read it to my own children who have been just as captivated by it. Althoguh the story is quite simple, the adventures of david and Adam as they search the riverbank for treasure keep you gripped. I love the fact that it is set in the real world, and makes you feel as though it could really happen - it doesn't rely on magic, or other worlds, just a simple story of two boys and a long summer holiday. I thought that my children may find it too slow or boring, used as they are to Harry Potter type novels, but they loved it as much as I always did. Highly recommended, especially for 8 - 12 year olds.
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40 somethings - this will take you back to your childhood
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A beautiful piece of work which features childhood from a distant but more stable and reassuring age. I first read this in the late 60s at primary school and loved it then. When I read it to my children again recently I was taken back to those innocent far off days. Philippa Pearce wrote some definitive works for children and this is one of my favourites.
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The best
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This is a truly wonderful book. It has a great mystery story at its heart - with a clue that niggles away at your brain, trying to get you to work it out yourself. You really care about the characters and get caught up in all they do. The illustrations by Edward Ardizzone are tiny masterpieces that make you want to live inside them. No synopsis can do justice to the spell this story casts.
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