Once upon a time, in a village nestled in a mountain valley, lived a girl named Darkin. Darkin wants three things more than anything else: to visit...
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reviews
Nov 16, 2011
Audrey
rated it: 
I re-read this book last night, after a hard day and in need of some comfort. And, I am happy to say, it ages well.
The story concerns a young girl named Dakin, who is independent, honest, kind, clever, brave, and very self-motivated. If you're looking for a fantasy/fairy-tale book that provides an excellent role model for girls, you've found one. Though she is wonderful, she is not without her flaws and moments of confusion, and she makes compelling friends along the way. My only rea More...
The story concerns a young girl named Dakin, who is independent, honest, kind, clever, brave, and very self-motivated. If you're looking for a fantasy/fairy-tale book that provides an excellent role model for girls, you've found one. Though she is wonderful, she is not without her flaws and moments of confusion, and she makes compelling friends along the way. My only rea More...
Sep 19, 2011
Ysabel
rated it: 
This book has sentimental value for me. This was the first book I read when I was a young girl, roughly around the age of 7. It made me feel magical, and truly was my escape at the time, which is probably why I love it so much. I remember while reading this, imagining that I was Darkin on this wild adventure to get to the farthest-away mountain. This really is the ultimate fairy-tale! And as a young girl, this book was so incredibly magical to me, I must of read it about a thousand times. Defini
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Feb 18, 2011
Darlene
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A female that had brains, courage and a heart and soul that cared deeply for others. What more could we want from our main character? And Lynne Reid Banks took her on an adventure as fun and terrorizing as the boy in the _Indian in the Cupboard_ books. I would have given it five stars but in the end she was to marry. I wish more independent thought could have come in to show a woman of substance, it was copyrighted 1976 so Banks could have been braver.
All in all, though, it was a fun r More...
All in all, though, it was a fun r More...
Mar 23, 2009
Anastasia
rated it:
I recognized this cover immediately when I stumbled across it here, even though I haven't seen my copy of the book in probably a decade. I loved this story because it was one of the first books I read about a girl who was willing to set out on her own to explore the world she wanted to see. She's not forced to head to the mountain because of war or a mysterious quest--she wants to see it, and she goes. The world she finds there might seem overly familiar now that every fantasy archetype risks be
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Nov 30, 2011
Mobirds
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so happy to have remembered the name of this book, so that I could find it on here & hopefully recommend it to those who were sadly deprived in their own childhood! this book would have been the first 'fantasy' I can remember reading as a girl, & it sparked something in me that has never stopped.. do yourself a favour - find this book asap, cancel your plans, brew your tea & sit down to a magical afternoon.. then palm it off to your kid. they (&your local library) will thankyou for a lifetime no
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Jul 27, 2009
Elizabeth
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Yeah, it was a kids' book; but it was sweet and imaginative. Read it in a few hours in the hospital, and it was a great mood-lifter. The story is creative and the characters are fun, and even though it keeps a straight face thoughout the fairy-tale tone is still winking enough to not be cliche. Plus, it's feminist-safe: the girl follows her dreams, conquers her fears, uses her wits to survive, realizes one of her dreams (marrying the prince) wasn't such a great idea and marries the nice scholarl
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Nov 21, 2011
Esti
rated it:
Lynne Reid Banks' The Farthest Away Mountain is a fairy tale story with engaging peeks behind the scenes. The plot follows Dakin, an adolescent girl from a quaint village who wakes one morning certain that the nearby mountain has called her by name. Despite the fact that no one has visited it in living memory, she sets off to uncover its secrets, meeting a strange and often very funny set of creatures along the way. Many traditional fairy tale elements—an enchanted frog, a giant's castle—are rei
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Jan 06, 2012
Nieva21
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One day a girl named Dakin hears a far mountain call to her. When she asks the mountain, if it did call her to come to it, it nods to her affirmatively. Dakin is almost fifteen-years old and dreams of nothing, but visiting the 'farthest-away mountain' as it's referred to, seeing a live gargoyle, and marrying a prince. So when boys from the village start asking her to marry them, she tells her family her reasons for firmly refusing them and remains without a husband. Her reasons being that More...
Mar 16, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
I first read this as a young child, which is probably why I love it so much. Children in this generation are spoiled with lengthy novels, whereas The Farthest-Away Mountain is rather short in comparison (this edition is only 130 pages). Even so, someone with a vivid imagination can fill in any details the author did not include.
This is one of those fantasy adventures that so few people know about, and one I would love more than anything to see turned into a movie on the big-screen.
This is one of those fantasy adventures that so few people know about, and one I would love more than anything to see turned into a movie on the big-screen.
Mar 24, 2011
Kara
rated it:
Oh, how I loved this book!
I remembered this book from when I was <10 years old. I loved it. My fond memories of this book led me to re-read it at 28. I still love it! This is a book for a young person who loves to read. I would recommend it to any child who is looking for a longer more challenging book. The themes are benign and the fantasy charming. There are some very mild scary parts but they come no where near disturbing. It's just precious :)
I remembered this book from when I was <10 years old. I loved it. My fond memories of this book led me to re-read it at 28. I still love it! This is a book for a young person who loves to read. I would recommend it to any child who is looking for a longer more challenging book. The themes are benign and the fantasy charming. There are some very mild scary parts but they come no where near disturbing. It's just precious :)
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Jun 02, 2009
Brittany F
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Emmit did not want to put this down (He's 5.) This was our second attempt at reading a chapter book together. As we would come to the end of a chapter he would beg me to keep reading. It was fun, especially knowing that he was imagining everything I read inside his mind instead of just looking at pictures. This book is for children so for adults it is a bit too predictable, but still fun. It was fun to listen to Emmit's predictions about the plot. My 3 year old wasn't as intereseted but listened
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Sep 05, 2011
Rachel
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Love love love this book!! Definitely a childhood favourite of mine. It's such a joy to read. The fantasy aspect is done so well and the story is almost like a fairytale but more exciting and unpredictable! It's a great children's book but adults will still enjoy it as a quick, fun read. I have re-read this one so many times and still can't get enough!
Apr 20, 2010
Megan
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I LOVED this book as a kid. If I had reviewed it then I would have given it 5 stars. However, when I read it again as an adult I was dismayed to find it very poorly written.
Probably a great read for girls aged 8-12, but I don't think I'll be reading a third time ... which kind of makes me sad. But it just isn't as good as I once thought.
Probably a great read for girls aged 8-12, but I don't think I'll be reading a third time ... which kind of makes me sad. But it just isn't as good as I once thought.
Jun 03, 2011
Emi
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I have finished the book. I really like how this author writes and hooks the reader in by word and action choices. At the beginning of the book she made the character (Dakin) seem realistic, because she had a dream, but people said she could not achieve it, that happens all around the world, so it is realistic. I like the ending of the story, because it is unlike any other ending of a fairy tale/fantasy story.
Feb 20, 2009
Kay
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I'm rereading this, as it was one of my favorites when I was first starting to read chapter books. I still think it's beautifully written and vivid, the illustrations adding depth to the world, but my child-mind had made it a much more engrossing memory than my adult-mind can fathom.
What made me love this was Dakin's need to travel and SEE things. The Farthest Away Mountain calls to her and she decides, wisely, that she should see what it has to offer before rooting herself somewher More...
What made me love this was Dakin's need to travel and SEE things. The Farthest Away Mountain calls to her and she decides, wisely, that she should see what it has to offer before rooting herself somewher More...
May 19, 2011
Jessamay
rated it:
This is one of those foundational books for me. I read it as a child, I searched for it as an adult, and re-read it...and it's still magic. It has everything I need in a fantasy, and everything a children's book should have. I think this really influenced my taste in literature. Irrevocably.
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May 06, 2009
Allison
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Ok, this is a book for, like, second-graders. But it was one of those I read when I was a kid, and it never really left me. I think this is where I learned to love fantasy literature. Anyways, an adult can burn through it in about an hour, and I reread it once and a while for the nostalgia value.
May 30, 2009
Stephanie
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This was one of my favorite books as a kid. When I was in fourth grade, my teacher read it to us with silly voices for all the characters. I think that is what really made me love the story!
But the idea of the story is really neat and fun. It is a great, original fantasy story!
But the idea of the story is really neat and fun. It is a great, original fantasy story!
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Jul 03, 2009
Janie
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This book is written in a traditional faerie tale style, and the plot is new and intriguing. You won't forget this book easily. It haunts me in dreams, and I was thinking about it when fully awake the other day, even though I couldn't remember the title.
Jun 25, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
I really enjoyed this story. It's the sort of book that if I'd read it as a child I probably would have read it over and over and been a little obsessed with it. My rating is 4.5 stars, just because of the ending, which was good, but a little rushed for me.
May 22, 2011
Alysia
rated it:
I found this book the other day when I was unpacking and it brought back so many memories for me! I read this in Elementary school and loved it. I will be saving it to read to my little girl someday. :)
Aug 08, 2010
Ruby
rated it:
Excellent quirky fantasy story from the gargoyles that adore being petted to the evil witch that spends her time turning the snow funny colors. The heroine is lots of fun and I really like the way she makes mistakes and forgets things and still triumphs with a little persistence. My only peeve is that I am TIRED of the villain of fantasy and sci fi stories being gay or an effeminate man, etc. This villain introduces a new wrinkle to this too-prevalent tendency by being a transvestite of sorts, e
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Aug 17, 2011
Mary Catherine
rated it:
This was one of my favorite books when I was a child. I lost my copy (unfortunately) so I'm on the hunt for another one so I can reread it and see if it's still as magical now as it was when I was 8.
Nov 16, 2011
Kat
rated it:
This was hands down my favorite book growing up. I still remember the story so vividly and you can tell how much I loved it from all the creases caused by numerous re-reads :).
Apr 22, 2010
I read this book close to fifteen years ago. I loved it at the time, and now that I was able to remember the title, I'm going to buy it and read it to my daughter.
Nov 26, 2009
Bry
rated it:
One of my favorite books ever. I read this as a kid and still have my copy, and have reread it so many times. Even as an adult since it just takes me back!
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Mar 11, 2011
Katie
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Oh my goodness! This was my favorite book in the 4th grade! I would reccomend it to any children who love reading- fantasy especially!
Dec 13, 2011
Mina
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Definite sentimental appeal, like most Lloyd Alexander books and a lot of the other adventure/fantasy works I read in grade school. Found this while treasure hunting in our basement when I went home recently, and re-read in one sitting. The characters are still charming, though the story seems less original (although to be fair, it was written way before most of the girl-adventurer books we read now).
Mar 04, 2010
Kelly
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When I was about 8 this was my favorite book in the whole world. I should read it a second time and see what I like abou it now.
Mar 24, 2009
Ashley
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I read this book dozen of times when I was younger. I absolutly loved it! It was such a great book of adventure.
