Storm

by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Annie lives with her elderly parents in a remote cottage. She is used to being alone. Every day she walks by the lonely marsh to school. Only in winter, when the wind howls in the trees, is Annie ever afraid. Her sister Willa is pregnant and Annie is overjoyed when she comes home to have her baby. Annie tells Willa the names of local plants and Willa tells Annie about the ghost, murdered by highwaymen, who is said to haunt the old ford nearby. Then, on a terrible night, with the phone lines down, Willa goes into labor. Annie is terrified of the ghost, but knows she must brave the storm to fetch help. As she ventures into the night, a horseman swings into view. He offers to take Annie to town. Before she can protest, Annie finds herself lifted on to his saddle and off they set on an intense, dream-like journey.

Genres: Novels, Family, Childrens, Mystery, Ghosts, Nature, Fantasy

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Kevin Crossley-Holland is an English poet and prize-winning author for children. His books include Waterslain Angels, a detective story set in north Norfolk in 1955, and Moored Man: A Cycle of North Norfolk Poems; Gatty's Tale, a medieval pilgrimage novel; and the Arthur trilogy (The Seeing Stone, At the Crossing-Places and King of the Middle March), which combines historical fiction with the retelling of Arthurian legend.

The Seeing Stone won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and the Smarties Prize Bronze Medal. The Arthur trilogy has won worldwide critical acclaim and has been translated into 21 languages.

Crossley-Holland has translated Beowulf from the Anglo-Saxon, and his retellings of traditional tales include The Penguin Book of Norse Myths and British Folk Tales (reissued as The Magic Lands). His collaborations with composers include two operas with Nicola Lefanu ("The Green Children" and "The Wildman") and one with Rupert Bawden, "The Sailor’s Tale"; song cycles with Sir Arthur Bliss and William Mathias; and a carol with Stephen Paulus for King’s College, Cambridge. His play, The Wuffings, (co-authored with Ivan Cutting) was produced by Eastern Angles in 1997.

He often lectures abroad on behalf of the British Council, regularly leads sessions for teachers and librarians, and visits primary and secondary schools. He offers poetry and prose workshops and talks on the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, King Arthur, heroines and heroes, and myth, legend and folk-tale.

After seven years teaching in Minnesota, where he held an Endowed Chair in the Humanities, Kevin Crossley-Holland returned to the north Norfolk coast in East Anglia, where he now lives.

He has a Minnesotan wife, Linda, two sons (Kieran and Dominic) and two daughters (Oenone and Eleanor). He is an Honorary Fellow of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, a patron of the Society of Storytelling and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, for a short illustrated chapter book geared specifically to young independent readers from about the age of eight to nine or ten, Kevin Crossley-Holland's text for his 1985 Carnegie Medal winning Storm is surprisingly and delightfully nuanced with regard to in particular descriptive depth, giving with deceptively simple sentences a wonderful and evocative sense of geographic place. And yes, Storm sure does make the huge and likely haunted English marsh that young protagonist Annie Carter crosses (to fetch a doctor for her pregnant and about to give birth older sister) escorted by a horse and rider combination that are probably ghosts themselves come vividly to life, with Crossley- Holland textually providing just enough creepiness for Storm to be a bit chilling but also showing to his young readers that just as the rider tells Annie, ghosts can often also be kind and helpful and that in his and in his horse's presence there is no need for Annie to be frightened.

Now with regard to how in Storm Kevin Crossley-Holland presents his characters, while I do think that the older sister, that heavily pregnant Willa is rather functioning more like a narrative device to move the plot along, for a short chapter book, ALL of the characters (from Annie to the ghostly horseman) are more than sufficiently developed for the intended audience and for the type of book Storm represents (and that Annie's father being shown as rather monosyllabic and using the word "blast" a bit too much kind of shows that since his stroke he has declined not only physically but also verbally), with my only real and quite minor textual issue regarding Storm being that in my opinion Kevin Crossley-Holland sometimes has Annie acting a bit too mature, a bit too much like an adult and not like a child.

Finally, as to Alan Marks' accompanying artwork for Storm while my text oriented reading self does not really find the illustrations necessary, Marks' pictures do very nicely and evocatively mirror Kevin Crossley-Holland's text, providing a delightful combination of printed words and images (and also making me happy that the Carnegie Medal is also sometimes being presented for books meant for younger and recent readers).

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie's sister, Willa, is soon to have a baby. One night a terrible storm rages and the telephone lines go down and Willa needs the doctor to have her baby. It is only Annie who can go get the doctor, but it's too far to walk. Suddenly a man on a horse appears and offers to take Annie where she needs to go. But who is this mysterious stranger? Could he be the famed ghost that haunts the road?

Storm is a beautifully illustrated early chapter book. And who doesn't love to read about a ghost?

A 1001 Children's Book You Must Read.

[RhiannaH · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book to get young readers hooked into reading. I never imagined that such a short story could hold so much for the audience to experience. From fear to bravery and eventually to rescue, this book provides a story that is both heart-warming and tense. Would recommend for any age, but might particularly be enjoyed by those who have yet to get their teeth into reading.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read

[Amber Scaife · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very short book (a short story in book form, really) about a young girl who must make a night journey in a storm for the doctor because her older sister is in labor. She gets help from an unexpected and possibly supernatural source.

I suspect that short stories are some of the more difficult things to perfect in the writing biz. How to be succinct but also fit in everything the story needs to be complete seems like it would test a writer's strength more than most other forms. This story doesn't succeed on a few levels, but mostly because it's too short; the ending is much too abrupt, as if the writer reached a required word count and refused to go any farther, so he revealed the ending solution and tagged a The End on it, dusted his hands, and left. It's too bad, really, because the idea behind the story is a good one, and were it fleshed out considerably more, could have made for an excellent middle grade book.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder why it doesn't show up on the library extension. Manybooks says it is on openlibrary. I guess I'll have to check other promising candidates manually.
---
Anyway, I did read it there. And it's an interesting enough leveled reader. But child me would have found it boring, and adult me can't find the nuances that others see... perhaps because it's so very short that they fly right by. But then, I've never been very fond of ghost stories or adventures either. If you have a child age about seven, they'll probably like it better.

[Tamsin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although a nice short story for children getting into reading, I found it lacked character development, namely with the ghost and Annie's sister, amongst others. Nevertheless, a simple story guided by wonderful watercoloured illustrations.

[Denise Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie lives with her parents in a cottage outside the marsh. Her sister comes to stay from the city, her name is Willa. Willa is pregnant and bonds with Annie as they walk through the marshland speaking of the tale of the ghost who roams on horseback.
One very stormy night when the electricity goes Willa goes into labour. There is no adult available to fetch the Doctor so Annie has to brave the storm. Suddenly a horseman appears and takes Willa to the Doctor on horseback. She is initially afraid but talks to the horseman.
To her fear, Annie finds out that the horseman is actually the ghost!

The moral of this story is that we should not judge people before we know them.

This book is excellent for children as examples of different types of english are throughout including, imagery, personification, similes and metaphors. Illustrations are also vivid and capturing.
I would highly recommend reading this book to children at key stage 2.

[Zoe Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant illustrations to go along with the gripping story. This novel is about a young girl, Annie who’s sister comes home to give birth as her husband is a sailor and cannot make it back. However, she goes into labour early and it is Annie’s job to go and notify the doctor because the phone lines have broken in the storm.

[Miffany White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm working my way through the list of Carnegie medal winners. This won the prize in 1985. It's a very short novella aimed at early readers and whilst the language is simple it's beautifully descriptive. The illustrations by Alan Mark really bring the story to life. It's a great book, I didn't want it to end.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

First chapter book. good ghost story. British Carnegie winner.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

from Gregor aged 8

it was a great book, my favourite character was Mr Carter cos he said "blast" a lot

[Alice Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for young readers, enables children to challenge their abilities and expand their knowledge. Makes use of different types of language and varies in structure throughout.

[Salaahudeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Really like it

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was a nice story which is a good introduction to novels for young readers. However, I feel that Annie could have been developed more. The narrative was a bit shallow, at times denying the reader the depth which makes most novels so enjoyable. Yes this is a first chapter book, but a bit more insight into how Annie must have been feeling before, during and after her journey would have made this story more engaging. That being said, it is still enjoyable.

[Jon Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the books I read when I was at Primary School.
Reading what it was about, it came back to me and for children's fiction, it's more dramatic than I remember.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was rather underwhelmed by this book. I wanted to believe in this child who lives on a marsh outside town and has to take her shoes and socks off to ford the river each day on the way to school, but I just wasn't convinced. There were some lovely bits of language at times, "Empty it looked and silent it seemed." Overall, I can see that it could be a satisfying book to read for someone newly fluent and the pictures are beautiful (though don't get me started on illustrators who don't research how riders hold reins, or a text which puts reign instead of rein . . .)

[Joff! · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a little unconvinced by the book, but I’m not quite sure as to why. The story itself is fine – ghostly without being scary. I found some of the analogies a bit odd, but enjoyed some of the descriptive language; “a slice of moon”. Overall though, I think the main pleasure to be taken from this book is probably the fact that a child can take great confidence from the fact that they have read an entire novel through by themselves.

[Dodo]

good

[Ganesu Karuna]

huygd;lkou