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The stolen telesm
Two children are drawn into a battle with the evil forces of Darkness after they find a winged horse and an ancient stone.
179 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 3, 2025
Checked out from interlibrary loan, this is a really fun young adult story written by 17 year old Caroline Baxter. A visit with a noticeably evil recluse (don't drink the lemonade!) results in Lucy and David fleeing for their lives and rescuing a magical foal. As the horse quickly matures, the summer gets increasingly crazy, resulting in an early August blizzard!
The middle has a bit of world building, and it would be nice to read another adventure with one of these mentors. The ending is a bit of a rush, with everything wrapped up on the last page. I read the republished edition with a fairly plain cover and no interior illustrations.
I've been searching for a particular F or SF book published in the 70s, which led me to Baxter. This isn't the book I read, but it is really good - probably the best discovery so far. It is a real shame that the author didn't publish more. Very glad I was able to find it through the library!
The middle has a bit of world building, and it would be nice to read another adventure with one of these mentors. The ending is a bit of a rush, with everything wrapped up on the last page. I read the republished edition with a fairly plain cover and no interior illustrations.
I've been searching for a particular F or SF book published in the 70s, which led me to Baxter. This isn't the book I read, but it is really good - probably the best discovery so far. It is a real shame that the author didn't publish more. Very glad I was able to find it through the library!
July 29, 2019
This book follows David and Lucy as they discover a world of magic living on their door step. After being invited to the house of a creepy neighbour they soon discover strange things around including a goal which they try nurse back to health. Little do they know that they are being watched from that point onwards.
This middle grade book is one of wonder. I read it knowing absolutely nothing about the plot or characters and it was great. I loved the adventure of seeing the children discover weird things amongst a world of normality. The plot remained interesting as mysteries and threats would arise whenever things would begin to tire and slow down.
Some of the things I loved about this book:
1. The Illustrations - there are a handful of illustrations throughout the book and the art style is perfect for building an image while still allowing the scene to play out in your mind.
2. The Horse - I am ultimately an animal lover and one of my favourite parts of the book was everything involving the horse.
3. Descriptions - While this is aimed at a younger audience it is not the most descriptive about the setting, the characters or the action but when there is a bit of description it is always well woven into the plot of the story.
Some things I hated about the book (the reason it is 4 stars not 5)
1. Miss Fothersby-Bane - For one I'm not even sure if I remember it correctly and I finished the book last night. I think the name while interesting is so long and for the majority of the book I could never recall her name. Only the description. Additionally she never really seemed like a threat, she was strange and potentially horrible but she didn't seem a threat until the end where apparently she was very powerful but you never really got that impression from reading it
2. The Ending - This is perhaps the most annoying thing and the main problem with this book. I liked the middle where they were fighting off against the minions of the antagonist but the ending was just filled with a massive info dump trying to explain everything that had happened in the last 150 pages before throwing David and Lucy into the final fight in which it seems like they won without so much of a struggle.I understand it is for children but the ending felt rushed and poorly executed.
This middle grade book is one of wonder. I read it knowing absolutely nothing about the plot or characters and it was great. I loved the adventure of seeing the children discover weird things amongst a world of normality. The plot remained interesting as mysteries and threats would arise whenever things would begin to tire and slow down.
Some of the things I loved about this book:
1. The Illustrations - there are a handful of illustrations throughout the book and the art style is perfect for building an image while still allowing the scene to play out in your mind.
2. The Horse - I am ultimately an animal lover and one of my favourite parts of the book was everything involving the horse.
3. Descriptions - While this is aimed at a younger audience it is not the most descriptive about the setting, the characters or the action but when there is a bit of description it is always well woven into the plot of the story.
Some things I hated about the book (the reason it is 4 stars not 5)
1. Miss Fothersby-Bane - For one I'm not even sure if I remember it correctly and I finished the book last night. I think the name while interesting is so long and for the majority of the book I could never recall her name. Only the description. Additionally she never really seemed like a threat, she was strange and potentially horrible but she didn't seem a threat until the end where apparently she was very powerful but you never really got that impression from reading it
2. The Ending - This is perhaps the most annoying thing and the main problem with this book. I liked the middle where they were fighting off against the minions of the antagonist but the ending was just filled with a massive info dump trying to explain everything that had happened in the last 150 pages before throwing David and Lucy into the final fight in which it seems like they won without so much of a struggle.I understand it is for children but the ending felt rushed and poorly executed.
August 7, 2018
Fantastic. A very rich, detailed and vivid fantasy novel, while at the same time easy for the young ones to follow and read. Very powerful and quite scary in parts, with nods to British folklore. But more than anything a sensational flight of the imagination, and a dream come true for those of us who have always wanted our own winged horse!
August 22, 2019
An enjoyable middle grade YA book I read when I was 13 or so.
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February 5, 2009Written by a 17 year old - pretty impressive!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews