Todd Klein's Blog, page 30

Rereading: FREDDY GOES CAMPING by Walter R. Brooks

By the fifteenth book in this series, Brooks had settled into a regular pattern and had a large cast of characters from which to choose. Here he has Freddy revisit Mr. Camphor, the rich man living on a lake north of the Bean Farm, and the two of them go camping on the far lake shore where trouble is brewing. That trouble includes the return of Freddy’s most frequent opponent, Simon the rat and his family, and a new mysterious man, Mr. Eha, who has plans to take over a lakeside hotel. Eha and the rats drive away the hotel guests and staff by frightening them with hauntings, until the owner is forced to sell at a very low price. He wants to continue with Mr. Camphor’s estate, and then the Bean Farm. Naturally, Freddy and his animal friends have other ideas, and the lake shore camp is their headquarters. But first, Freddy has to find out who Mr. Eha really is in Centerboro, not an easy task, and there are other challenges at the Camphor home.

Recommended, great fun, clever and funny.

Freddy Goes Camping by Walter R Brooks

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Rereading: DREAM GOLD by David Severn

David Severn was the pen name of David Unwin, son of publisher Stanley Unwin. Even though his many books for young readers were published by The Bodley Head, not his father’s firm Allen & Unwin, he probably thought it best not to use his real name. David kind of had two careers as a children’s’ book author. First he wrote summer adventure series books that I quite like, and will reread eventually. Later he began writing more serious and at times darker stories of mystery, suspense, and the paranormal, and this is one of those. It takes place on the coast of Cornwall, and reminds me of the work of Daphne du Maurier.

Peter Mannings becomes friends with Guy Trelawney at school, and is invited to stay at the Trelawney home on the coast of Cornwall over the holidays. When he arrives, he’s startled to see what a strange home it is, ancient and stone-built on a small rocky island out in the ocean reached by a causeway only passable at low tide. The home and inhabitants are as gloomy and frightening as the house, and even Guy doesn’t seem all that friendly, but at night, a strange new world opens up to both Guy and Peter as they share the same dreams of a tropical island in the past. Guy apparently knows all about this, but only says they’re waiting for the arrival of a sailing ship. The dreams seem completely real, and continue from night to night in sequence.

When the ship arrives, the boys observe the captain, Thomas Pendean, and the man who chartered the voyage, Guy’s ancestor John Trelawney and their crew as they dig up pirate treasure from the beach. In a later dream there’s treachery, and a battle between those loyal to each man. Back in the real world, Guy reveals that the real ship sank with the treasure right next to the Trelawney house, where no one has yet been able to retrieve it from the dangerous waters, and a curse on the family has led to many Trelawneys dying by drowning. Guy is determined to get the treasure at all costs, but will he meet the same end?

An exciting, suspenseful story that builds relentlessly to a surprising ending. Recommended.

Dream Gold by David Severn

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Rereading: THE MISSING BROTHER by Keith Robertson

Keith Robertson has been a favorite author since my own childhood. This is an early book, his third or fourth, and it’s subtitled “A Mystery Story for Older Boys,” perhaps because the hero Ted Fowler faces some life-threatening events in this taut, suspenseful tale.

Ted and his family live in Bradyville, Iowa, a small town where nothing exciting happens amid the corn fields and flat horizons. Even the nearest river is a long hike away. Ted likes to camp, and after a practical joke on his agriculture teacher goes a bit too far, Ted is tasked with finding and bringing back samples of red clay from a nearby farm, rare for the area. Ted soon finds out the owner of that farm, Eric Gillaby, does not allow trespassers. Gillaby makes his point with a shotgun on the edge of the small hill and gravel pit where the clay is, but a sudden landslide puts both Ted and Gillaby in a heap at the bottom, and Gillaby is injured. Ted helps him get back to his house, and before long, the boy becomes friends with the farmer. He learns from his neighbor, Judge McDaniel, the reason for Eric’s solitary ways. He had a brother, Frank, and the two of them often quarreled. One day Frank disappeared, and everyone in town thinks Eric killed him, except his friend and lawyer Judge Daniel. With this mystery to solve, Tom is soon drawn into more serious confrontations with criminals and con-men that put him on the run, even though he uncovers clues to the mystery of the missing brother.

This is a great read, and perhaps closer to Robertson’s adult mysteries than many of his other books for young readers. I found myself missing the humorous and appealing narration of the lead character in other Robertson books, and also think Tom could have used help from a friend instead of going it alone so much. Those are story elements that the author developed later. Still, highly recommended.

The Missing Brother by Keith Robertson

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Rereading: DON RODRIGUEZ, CHRONICLES OF SHADOW VALLEY by Lord Dunsany

This 1922 novel shows Dunsany trying new things, and exploring new territory, in this case Spain in what he calls the “Golden Age,” which I’m guessing is probably the 1500s. There’s just this one illustration by Sime, but it’s a fine one, though the protagonist looks rather more sinister than he seems in the book.

Don Rodriguez is raised in a well-off family in southern Spain, but when he reaches manhood, his father sends him out with the family sword in hand to find his fortune, as his younger brother is chosen to inherit the family castle. Rodriguez’s first night at an inn ends in the death of the innkeeper, who was himself in the habit of murdering guests to enrich himself, and he makes a lifelong friend in the inn’s servant Morano. The two of them flee before La Garda can arrive to investigate, and head north. An odd episode in the mountain home of a magician takes them on a spirit journey to the surface of the sun, fantasy edging toward science fiction, but the rest of the book is more traditional heroic adventure.

Rodriguez comes across officers of La Garda preparing to hang a man, and decides to free him. The man turns out to be a powerful leader of a band of outlaws living in Shadow Valley, and he gives Rodriguez a golden pass to that vast forest kingdom that proves valuable. Later, Rodriguez meets a woman, Serafina, and falls in love, but is driven away by swordplay with a rival. As he enters Shadow Valley, he and Morano receive a surprising welcome and many gifts because of their golden token. They ride on across the mountains into France to find their fortunes in war, but things are not so easy as that.

Well written, if in a somewhat slow and old-fashioned style, appealing characters, an exciting story. Recommended.

Don Rodriguez by Lord Dunsany

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Rereading: FREDDY THE MAGICIAN by Walter R. Brooks

In the fourteenth book of the Freddy the Pig series about the talking animals of the Bean Farm, Freddy meets perhaps his most difficult enemy so far. Freddy attends a show by stage magician Senior Zingo, a new hire of the Boomschmidt Circus, and is inspired to learn magic himself. He gets help from Zingo’s former white rabbit assistant Presto, but that help turns out to be intended to spoil his reputation. When Freddy puts on his own magic show in Centerboro, Zingo shows up to ruin it with help from Presto, and Zingo is also causing trouble for the Bean farm, Mr. Boomschmidt (whose money he’s stolen}, and the hotel owner where he’s staying. Freddy and his animal and insect friends have quite a time trying to outsmart the clever magician. Can they ever get rid of him and get back what he’s stolen? You can be sure the attempts will include adventure, thrills, and humor.

Recommended.

Freddy the Magician by Walter R Brooks

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Rereading: BIG JOHN’S SECRET by Eleanore M. Jewett

Thirteenth century England is torn by strife under the rule of King John, and one teenage boy, also named John and large for his age, knows he is somehow connected to that strife, though his guardian, a healer named Old Marm, won’t tell him who his father was. Young John works as a serf on the lands of Sir Eustace, but when he helps another visiting knight, the Earl of Warenne, he’s chosen to be a page in Warenne’s company. John is thrilled, and brings the sword Old Marm has saved for him, and the ruby necklace that she tells him will confirm his parentage if he ever finds his father.

Life in the Warenne castle is sometimes difficult, but John perseveres, and is chosen to go on a Crusade to the Holy Land with Warenne and other knights and their companies. There he gets word his father may be a prisoner of the Saracens, and he’s determined to find him, no matter the cost. A new friend, Francis of Assisi, may be able to help.

I enjoyed rereading this, though it’s not as good as my favorite Jewett book, “The Hidden Treasure of Glaston.” The illustrations by Chapman are excellent. Recommended.

Big Johns Secret by Eleanore M Jewett

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Rereading: FREDDY THE PIED PIPER by Walter R. Brooks

The thirteenth book in the Freddy the Pig series of humorous novels about the talking animals of the Bean Farm in upper New York State has a wintery theme. Jerry the rhinoceros from the Boomschmidt Circus has turned up at the Bean farm in winter with a story of hard times for their friend Mr. Boomschmidt, who has had to disband the circus, and send his animals out to forage for themselves, due to lack of funds to feed them, because his money has been stolen. Meanwhile, in nearby Centerboro, townsfolk and businesses are being troubled by hundreds of mice who’ve come in from the cold and are making a mess by chewing up everything.

Freddy hears of a lion seen and being hunted in the town of Tallmanville, south of them, and thinks it might be their friend Leo, from the circus. He and Jinx head there to try to help him, and discover Leo is being held prisoner in a pet shop. They also meet a gang of hungry cats looking for homes and food. Freddy sees some ways to get everyone what they want, but he and Jinx also become involved in finding other Boomschmidt animals and reuniting them, as well as helping Mr. Boomschmidt recover his money. Eventually, after an exciting animal race at a racetrack, and an invasion of the thief’s home, things get sorted out.

Recommended, as always, these are great fun.

Freddy the Pied Piper by Walter R Brooks

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Rereading: I WILL ADVENTURE by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Like Gray’s better known book “Adam of the Road,” this is a story of medieval England, taking place in the year 1596. The illustrations are nicely done, but not as good as those by Robert Lawson in “Adam.”

Andrew Talbot is the youngest son in a large family living in the county of Kent in southeastern Britain. He can’t seem to behave and do what everyone else wants, and longs for adventure. The opportunity comes when a visiting uncle invites Andrew to come to his home in London to be his page. Andrew is thrilled at the chance, and his family supports the decision, but on the way, at a stop in Canterbury, Andrew falls under the spell of a performance given by a traveling company of “Romeo and Juliet” by one of the company’s own cast, William Shakespeare. Andrew’s new desire is to become an actor, and he meets Shakespeare in hopes of getting his help, but the playwright thinks he should stick to his promise and become a page. When Andrew gets to his uncle’s home in London, he finds he isn’t really needed or wanted, and has a miserable time made worse by his own temper and practical jokes that misfire. an a visit to see Shakespeare’s newest play change his fortunes, or must he run away home defeated?

Well written, historical accuracy and fine characters made this worth reading. Recommended.

I Will Adventure by Elizabeth Janet Gray

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Rereading: TREASURE OF THE ISLE OF MIST by W.W. Tarn

This book is something of an oddity, as it’s the only fiction by a man known otherwise for scholarly works mainly on ancient Greece. It’s a fairy tale written for his daughter, and beautifully illustrated by Robert Lawson for this 1934 edition, the book was originally published in 1920.

Fiona and her father, known as The Student, live on The Isle of Mist, a small island on the west coast of Scotland. Their neighbors include a mysterious old hawker, and a family who live in The Student’s larger rented ancestral home nearby, a man and his son, Fiona’s friend, known in this story as The Urchin, and currently also the home of a relative of theirs named Jeconiah, whose secret reason for being there is to search for the island’s reputed hidden treasure. Fiona and The Urchin are also searching for that treasure in places like a haunted cave, where The Urchin disappears, apparently taken by the fairies who live underground nearby. Fiona is determined to find The Urchin and get him back, and she has help from the animals of the island, but she must walk the perilous road through faery, where nothing is as it seems and danger is waiting at every wrong turn, to find him. Jeconiah is also making trouble for everyone, not caring who he hurts in his greed.

Beautifully told, a cracking good magical adventure story with fine characters and excellent illustrations. Highly recommended.

Treasure of the Isle of Mist by W W Tarn

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Rereading: FREDDY AND THE POPINJAY by Walter R. Brooks

Illustrations by Kurt Wiese

The twelfth book in the Freddy the Pig series is full of fun ideas, great characters, and amusing adventures, though by this time the series was becoming fairly predictable. Freddy, his friend Jinx the black cat, and other talking animals on the Bean Farm in New York State create their own fun, like the jousting match seen above, and also deal with a variety of troublemakers and problems, in this case a neighbor boy who’s throwing stones at them, a wildcat who wants to be their neighbor, and a few folks in town who hate talking animals, and animals in general. The title character is a robin who gets fixed up with extra fancy feathers to become a living ladies’ hat decoration that becomes all the rage in town.

Brooks’ insights into human nature are spot on as always, even if some of them are presented in animal form. Recommended.

Freddy and the Popinjay by Walter R Brooks

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