I'm just finished reading the Railway Children to my 10-year-old, and it is such a great read!

I loved it as a child, and this is my second time reading it aloud. I can't recommend it enough.

It's just a nice story. Set at the turn of the century, three children are forced to leave their comfortable life in London and go live in a smaller house near a railway when their father is mysteriously taken away from them. They don't know why; we don't find out until the end of the book. In the meantime, their mother is very brave, earning money by writing, and they try not to bother her by getting to know the railway and getting involved in everybody's lives all around them.

The children are very sweet, and there's a thread of definite morality throughout the book.

At one point, Peter has acted beastly towards his sisters and the local doctor notices. He takes Peter aside and gives him quite a nice talk. He says;

"You know men have to do the work of the world and not be afraid of anything--so they have to be hardy and brave. But women have to take care of their babies and cuddle them and nurse them and be very patient and gentle."

He then goes into a wonderful description of chivalry which is still so true but sounds so anachronistic now.

Another paragraph I love:

"Don't you think it's rather nice to think that we're in a book that God's writing? If I were writing the book, I might make mistakes. But God knows how to make the story end just right--in the way that's best for us."

Anyway, a wonderful book. Don't miss it with your kids!

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Posted by ltjewel

We love that book too. We listened to the audio version and it was excellent! We found a bunch of her other books at audiobooksforfree.com. You should check it out.

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