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7th out of 572 books
—
212 voters
The Children of Green Knowe (Green Knowe #1)
L. M. Boston's thrilling and chilling tales of Green Knowe, a haunted manor deep in an overgrown garden in the English countryside, have been entertaining readers for half a century. Now the children of Green Knowe--both alive and ghostly--are back in appealing new editions.
The spooky original illustrations have been retained, but dramatic new cover art by Brett Helquist...more
The spooky original illustrations have been retained, but dramatic new cover art by Brett Helquist...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
April 1st 2002
by Sandpiper
(first published 1954)
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One night when I was a teenager I heard my mother go into my younger sister's room because she was crying. Turns out the book she was reading scared her, which of course piqued my interest. It was The Children of Green Knowe, and it didn't scare me, and I loved it. I always meant to read the rest of the series but never did. Now they've been reissued with Brett Helquist covers. I must get the whole series and read them all!
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Remember when you were young and wished the universe you created around the dull things surrounding you weren't completely ignored by your parents? That you could pretend that even your appartment is a place where things might actually happen, as if in a castle. When I was little I was told that there used to be a graveyard before they made the flats we live in. I was convinced of it for a while because of a big white cross placed in the nearby and certainly because spooky is way better than bor...more
(Rating possibly exaggerated due to nostalgia)
Continuing my "read books that were old when I read them as a kid and are now really old" kick. I remember reading this as a kid and being terrified of some of the scary bits, like the owl and the parts with Green Noah. As an adult those aren't as scary, and the overall atmosphere of the book is magical and a little haunting.
One of the things I really appreciate about the way this is written is how everyone accepts the strange happenings at Green Kn...more
Continuing my "read books that were old when I read them as a kid and are now really old" kick. I remember reading this as a kid and being terrified of some of the scary bits, like the owl and the parts with Green Noah. As an adult those aren't as scary, and the overall atmosphere of the book is magical and a little haunting.
One of the things I really appreciate about the way this is written is how everyone accepts the strange happenings at Green Kn...more
In the beginning of Lucy M. Boston's wonderful children's book, The Children of Green Knowe (1954), seven-year-old Toseland (pet name Tolly) travels by train through the flooded British countryside to spend his Christmas holidays with his great-grandmother Mrs. Oldknow in her old castle-like house Green Noah (true name Green Knowe). Tolly is a lonely and imaginative boy, Mrs. Oldknow a solitary and imaginative old lady, and they hit it off immediately, encouraging each other's fancies and treati...more
Having fought my way through The Children of Green Knowe, I have been prompted to make a Non-New-Year’s-Resolution that I am DONE slogging my way through books I don’t enjoy. Note that this doesn’t mean I won’t read books I hate. I love hating books. But ones that I am just clawing my way through, page by onerous page, that are so blah I won’t even be able to actively dislike them… I’m done with those.
So.
First off, there’s basically no plot. And the (plotless) pacing is… sluggish.
Tolly puts bu...more
So.
First off, there’s basically no plot. And the (plotless) pacing is… sluggish.
Tolly puts bu...more
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I love these books, and The Children of Green Knowe, first in the series is one of my favorites(1). The Green Knowe series as a whole is the story of a house that has stood for so long and been loved so well that time is flexible. People who lived in and loved the house can meet, even after centuries.The Children of Greene Knowe opens as Tolly makes his first trip to stay there with his great grandmother, whom he has never met. He is in initially nervous, but soon comes to love the place and me...more
Toseland, called Tolly, goes to stay with his great-great-grandmother for his holiday from boarding school. Mrs. Oldknow lives at Green Noah, a grand old manor with beguiling decorations and strange visual effects made by mirrors and shadows. But there are forces beyond the ordinary there, as well. It soon becomes apparent that there are unusual presences in the house – three children, whom Tolly at first cannot see, until they get used to him and show themselves. They are ghosts of siblings who...more
Like many of my generation, I was spellbound by the BBC's 1980s adaptation of Lucy Boston's "The Children of Green Knowe". It was one of those high quality children's dramas for which the BBC was renowned at that time and to this day, my sister and I will burst into giggles if one of us utters the line, "Green Noah! Demon Tree!"
Regular readers of my reviews will see a pattern emerging, in that I have a penchant for time travel and the supernatural - but what Lucy Boston cleverly does in this, an...more
Regular readers of my reviews will see a pattern emerging, in that I have a penchant for time travel and the supernatural - but what Lucy Boston cleverly does in this, an...more
I read this book in probably 3rd-4th grade, in the early 70's, when my mother was the librarian at my Episcopalian school in Newport News, Va. I would find any excuse to go down and visit her and our school's teeny tiny library, immediately to be sent back to class by my mom.
My friend Cathy and I hoarded books, checking them out again and again ("Half-Magic" and "Jane-Emily" in particular, I remember). We read greek mythology endlessly. We always wanted to write "our own myths" - as an adult, th...more
My friend Cathy and I hoarded books, checking them out again and again ("Half-Magic" and "Jane-Emily" in particular, I remember). We read greek mythology endlessly. We always wanted to write "our own myths" - as an adult, th...more
This is that rarest of all things, a perfect book.
It is a beautifully told story about a little boy who's sent to live with his grandmother in a very rural England. He moves into a vast old house, complete with whimsical topiary, an empty stable, a river, and - ghosts. It's obvious that that's what Tolly's strange new playmates are, at least to us, but they seem as alive as anyone else in the story, which moves seamlessly from present to past to present again, using the medium of the grandmothe...more
It is a beautifully told story about a little boy who's sent to live with his grandmother in a very rural England. He moves into a vast old house, complete with whimsical topiary, an empty stable, a river, and - ghosts. It's obvious that that's what Tolly's strange new playmates are, at least to us, but they seem as alive as anyone else in the story, which moves seamlessly from present to past to present again, using the medium of the grandmothe...more
I absolutely Love this book! It is very slow and old fashioned so it might bore some readers espeically kids. But it is charming and worthwhile to read.
Oh and this is not one of those English orphan books- Tolly stays with Granny during his breaks from boarding school, because his father and his stepmother are living abroad.
I loved the characters; they felt so real and magical at the same time. Especially Granny, the book made me wish I could come stay at Green Knowe and meet Granny Oldknowe!...more
Oh and this is not one of those English orphan books- Tolly stays with Granny during his breaks from boarding school, because his father and his stepmother are living abroad.
I loved the characters; they felt so real and magical at the same time. Especially Granny, the book made me wish I could come stay at Green Knowe and meet Granny Oldknowe!...more
The Children of Green Knowe (Green Knowe #1) by L.M. Boston, illustrated by Peter Boston, is the beginning of a series, starting with the tale of Tolly. who comes to live with his great-grandmother at the ancient house of Green Knowe and becomes friends with three children who lived there in the seventeenth century.
Tolly's father has recently remarried and Tolly doesn't want to spend his holidays with his new step-mother, so instead he visits his deceased mother's grandmother and begins explorin...more
Tolly's father has recently remarried and Tolly doesn't want to spend his holidays with his new step-mother, so instead he visits his deceased mother's grandmother and begins explorin...more
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What a warm and wonderful book this is!! I wish I had read it when I was a child but am so glad I have gotten to read it now as an adult. This book is utterly charming.
Tolly is a young boy whose mom is dead and his father and stepmother live in Burma. He has been at boarding school where they have been very kind to him but he really longs to belong somewhere with his own family. Then suddenly he does! His great-grandmother OldKnow sends for him to come to live with her at the family home Green...more
Tolly is a young boy whose mom is dead and his father and stepmother live in Burma. He has been at boarding school where they have been very kind to him but he really longs to belong somewhere with his own family. Then suddenly he does! His great-grandmother OldKnow sends for him to come to live with her at the family home Green...more
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Aug 05, 2011
Danielle Lentz
added it
I loved this book as a child and I still love this book.
It is pure, enjoyable, magical fantasy. So very well written and so poetic. I love the interweaving of the past and the present. I think without being "preachy" the author writes on the theme of how we are connected to our previous generation-and how who they are and what they were has a "hold" over who we are and what we are. An interesting"ghost story" yet without the element of terror. There are times Tolly is a little fearful, but his c...more
It is pure, enjoyable, magical fantasy. So very well written and so poetic. I love the interweaving of the past and the present. I think without being "preachy" the author writes on the theme of how we are connected to our previous generation-and how who they are and what they were has a "hold" over who we are and what we are. An interesting"ghost story" yet without the element of terror. There are times Tolly is a little fearful, but his c...more
My seven year old son, ten year old daughter and I all really enjoyed this story. It's special, magical even and old fashioned. It is a ghost story that depicts "ghosts" just the way I think of them (not at all scary).
Here's a link to the list of GK books
The Chimneys is now called The Treasure of GK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Kn...
Here's a link to the list of GK books
The Chimneys is now called The Treasure of GK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Kn...
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Jan 25, 2012
Megan D. Neal
added it
The story of young Tolly who goes to live with his kindly Great-Grandmother OldKnowe whom he has never met, in an old manor in the English countryside and finds it benevolently haunted by the spirits of three children (Tolly's ancestors) who died during the Plague in the 1600's. Lonely Tolly loves exploring the grounds with their whimsical topiaries, and learning about the history of the house and his ancestors and the three children, Toby, Alexander and Linnet.
Originally published in 1955, this...more
Originally published in 1955, this...more
The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston is a delightful book for older children. It is a fairly gentle ghost story, which tells of Toseland's Christmas, spent with his great grandmother, at the old family house of Green Knowe. Toseland, or Tolly as his great grandmother calls him, is a neglected little boy, but when he comes to Green Knowe for the first time, he learns of his place in the ancient family. At last, he is home.
I loved the writing of this little story. Lucy Boston created a magic...more
I loved the writing of this little story. Lucy Boston created a magic...more
Apr 02, 2011
Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
childrens_teens_fiction,
classics
Toseland is being sent off to the country to spend the holidays at Green Noah, the family estate on his mother's side. His father is off gallivanting in warmer climates with his new wife while Tolly braves the flooded plains to reach his great-grandmother's, just as if he was Noah himself. The house is warm and inviting after the waterlogged journey. Tolly feels instantly at home. Every shadow is a friend, and if he's patient enough, Granny Oldknow hints, then perhaps the house will offer up it'...more
Review originally posted HERE
This is seriously one of the worst books I've ever read. I am surprised it made the list of top 100. It had a lot of potential-the plot and characters both seemed interesting, but the book is BORING. Through 90 percent of the book, we read how Tolly, the little boy, explores the house and grounds (with mundane activity), listens to birds, and plays flutes. The actions are very mundane-look at the book cover; that's pretty much the whole book. Finally, toward the end,...more
This is seriously one of the worst books I've ever read. I am surprised it made the list of top 100. It had a lot of potential-the plot and characters both seemed interesting, but the book is BORING. Through 90 percent of the book, we read how Tolly, the little boy, explores the house and grounds (with mundane activity), listens to birds, and plays flutes. The actions are very mundane-look at the book cover; that's pretty much the whole book. Finally, toward the end,...more
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A gem of a book, I just reread it to my 10 year old son, on the premise that it was a Christmas classic. Lucy Boston weaves an intriguing world which just like the main character Tolly, you long to belong to, the spirits are child-ghosts of Tolly's ancestors from 600 years ago. They are still very much alive in this ancient house. The whole novel is full of stories within stories and magical moments and never - well almost never gets truly scary. This is a real classic which stays with you long...more
This book reminds me so much of The Little White Horse! From it's status as a beloved English childhood classic to the similar orphan-in-a-mysterious-country-estate storylines. Also my reactions to both books were strikingly similar - extremely excited at the outset, but ultimately not entirely fulfilled.
The set up is this - Toseland (Tolly for short) isn't quite an orphan, but might as well be with a deceased mother and a father who lives in Burma with his new wife. He's basically been raised b...more
The set up is this - Toseland (Tolly for short) isn't quite an orphan, but might as well be with a deceased mother and a father who lives in Burma with his new wife. He's basically been raised b...more
I started this book on the train from Norwich to London, it was still dark and the first light revealed a deluge of rain against the windows of our carriage.
I can't be sure but I think this may have been the perfect way to start the Children of Green Knowe. A subdued ghost story about a boy who goes to live with his grandmother in their ancestral home and finds it haunted with a ghosts of children past.
It was in my opinion, not only a thoroughly English children's novel, but thoroughly Norfolki...more
I can't be sure but I think this may have been the perfect way to start the Children of Green Knowe. A subdued ghost story about a boy who goes to live with his grandmother in their ancestral home and finds it haunted with a ghosts of children past.
It was in my opinion, not only a thoroughly English children's novel, but thoroughly Norfolki...more
If you want your mind haunted forever with good ideas, read this book. It's dark in places, but full of wonder.
Tolly has spent his whole life surrounded by uncaring people until he goes to live with his great-grandmother in an ancient house called Green Knowe. Gradually, as he explores and she tells him stories of the children who lived there in centuries past, he discovers that time does not behave within the house as it does in the world outside, and that sometimes, some of those children are...more
Tolly has spent his whole life surrounded by uncaring people until he goes to live with his great-grandmother in an ancient house called Green Knowe. Gradually, as he explores and she tells him stories of the children who lived there in centuries past, he discovers that time does not behave within the house as it does in the world outside, and that sometimes, some of those children are...more
I liked this book. It was really well written and the imagery is very vivid. I found it very easy to visual the events that took place. I loved when they were at the nursery and Tolly purchased the christmas gift for Granny. I thought Tolly was a lovely child and he was cute whenever he was playing with the mouse and very respectful of all of the things in his room. I also loved that he and Granny went about making good shadows for his bedroom - that was just so amazing. I really did enjoy it......more
One of my very favorites in life. I have read it many times but this time was different because I visited the Manor at Hemingford Grey (the model for the house in Green Knowe) in England this spring. This time I *saw* the house in the descriptions. Everything was informed by that experience. One odd thing is that the house and everything connected with it is much smaller in real life than I had imagined, including the St. Christopher statue. I think it's an occupational hazard (or do I mean nati...more
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Charming is the word that comes to mind after finishing the book. I did feel that it was slow a bit in places and wonder ifit would have been engaging for me.as a child. Still the premise of the book was a good one- little boy goes to live in an old house in the country with his grandmother and meets the ghosts of his ancestors from lon ago and gets to hear exciting stories of their life. The end was a bit anticlimactic, but still it was a nice journey to go on. This book was part of my "Inkhear...more
This is an odd book. While I think that even today, this book stands out as different from anything being published (and it certainly must have seemed revolutionary before the days of 25 new chapter books hitting the shelves each month) it's not going to appeal to every child. The open minded reader will have no problem with the concept - boy moves into interesting old house and gets to know previous inhabitants - three very interesting, technically 'ghost' children, but others will find the cha...more
When I saw the film "From Time to Time" on Netflix, and saw it was not only recommended to me based on Downton Abbey, but starred Maggie Smith(!), I knew I had to watch it. I didn't enjoy the film as much as I wanted to, but saw loads of potential in the story. Then I found it was adapted from a book series, and I was delighted to see that they were still in print! It's a very cute little story, and while I agree with other reviewers that "not much happens," I didn't think the book suffered for...more
When Tolly is taken to live with his great-grandmother Oldknow, he has great fun exploring his family's large home and estate, but the best part of living there is meeting the ghosts of children who lived there hundreds of years ago.
I think I would have enjoyed this more when I was about 9 years old. It would've been right up my alley then, with magical things and exploring new and exciting places, but not too scary. I'm not sure how many of today's readers would stick with it, as much of the "...more
I think I would have enjoyed this more when I was about 9 years old. It would've been right up my alley then, with magical things and exploring new and exciting places, but not too scary. I'm not sure how many of today's readers would stick with it, as much of the "...more
i can't believe I didn't come across these books when I was a kid! I enjoy books in which a young person has an equal friendship with an older person (something you rarely see in movies or tv, where the old are often mocked) and that shines through in this somewhat eerie story about a young boy who comes to stay with a relative in a very old English manor house. If you liked the Gone-Away Lake stories by Enright or the Five Children and It by Nesbit, you will probably like this. It might be a bi...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading the Classics: Childrens books | 2 | 25 | Oct 19, 2012 06:30am | |
| What's The Name o...: Ghost children playing hide and seek, cherub hands on pillars [s] | 8 | 55 | Jul 04, 2012 10:38pm | |
| Children's Books: November 2011 - The Children of Green Knowe | 47 | 51 | Mar 21, 2012 11:20am |
Also published as Lucy M. Boston. Full name: Lucy Maria Boston, born Lucy Wood.
Boston was a British author noted for her longevity; she did not have her first book published until she was over 60. She is best known for her Green Knowe books, inspired by her home The Manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire, one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in Britain. B
Boston was educated at a Susse...more
More about L.M. Boston...
Boston was a British author noted for her longevity; she did not have her first book published until she was over 60. She is best known for her Green Knowe books, inspired by her home The Manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire, one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in Britain. B
Boston was educated at a Susse...more
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“The moon shone in the rocking horsr's eye, and in the mouse's eye, too, when Tolly fetched it out from under his pillow to see. The clock went tick-tock, and in the stillness he heard little bare feet running across the floor, then laughter and whispering, and a sound like the pages of a big book being turned over. ”
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