THE FLEDGLING (3 AUDIOCASSETTES) [Audio Cassette]

Jane Langton (Author)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Listening Library (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807287792
• ISBN-13: 978-0807287798
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I've written an awful lot of books. There are eleven for middle-aged children, mostly fantasies. The ones that have hung around the longest are "The Diamond in the Window" and "The Fledgling." The seventh in the series called "The Hall Family Chronicles" came out last spring, "The Mysterious Circus," and I've just finished writing an eighth, "The Dragon Tree."

All eighteen mysteries for adults have the same protagonists, Homer and Mary Kelly. Mary is the sensible one, but I confess I like Homer's rhapsodic flights of fancy. Most of their adventures happen in Massachusetts, but I've also sent them to farflung places I wanted to visit myself, like Florence, Oxford and Venice. Most of the novels are illustrated with my own drawings, but "The Escher Twist" has ten prints by the mysterious Dutch artist M. C. Escher, and the two historical mysteries are illustrated with nineteenth-century photographs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fledgling is fantastic, March 26, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Lake Forest, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fledgling (Hall Family Chronicles (Numbered)) (Library Binding)

This book is so fantastic. It has all the qualities I consider appealing to non-committal fantasy readers. A young girl searching for something, a goose prince, a magic present and some characters that oppose all that the main character does. Georgie is a young girl who is a little out of the loop of day to day life, seeing as how she lives near a place called Walden pond, this is no surprise. Georgie starts believing that she can fly and actually injures herself a couple of times. Truth be told she really can with her goose prince who seems to have been drawn to Georgie. There is an awful lady who lives next door. She plants shrubbery with thorns on them to keep children out of her yard. She has seen Georgie flying and opposes this very much. This story becomes a tumult between nature and man , childhood beliefs and adulthood notions. I would highly recommend this book to any age person. In the begiining of the book there is a quote from Thoureau's Walden to bring the natural connection to this book even closer. There is more here than meets the eye.

33 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Please read this book before reading it to your child., December 19, 2002

By 

C. Walker "CW" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fledgling (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (School & Library Binding)

My daughter and I just finished reading this book together a little over a week ago.

This book has upset her more than any other book we have ever read together (and we have read thousands.) She cried for nearly an hour after we finished and basically fell asleep crying. She was still very disturbed the next day and I wasn't sure if she would be able to go to school.

My daughter bought this book from her second grade book form and it was, of course, highly recommended. It has won an award and everyone we had spoken to about it while we were reading it, said it was a great book, even though they hadn't actually read it.

I am not sure after actually reading it how appropriate it is for a young girl such as my seven year old.

I discussed the book with my daughter's school's librarian. He did a research on it and said that it was geared towards a minimum of 5th grade level and that it was definitely inappropriate for a 2nd grader.

I was very shocked by the ending - something very bad happens to one of the main characters in the story and you should know this before reading this book to your child. This is what upset my daughter so greatly.

It is definitely a good book, I will not argue that. It is well written and has interesting characters. But, for an imaginative 7 year old who is drawn in to the magic and wonder of this story, you will find that the ending can be quite psychologically disturbing to the young reader or listener when the violent ending occurs.

If I had read this book before reading it to my daughter or been warned at least about its content, I would have never shared this story with her at this age.

Please read this book before reading it to your child and decide whether or not it is appropriate for them.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book!, September 22, 2001

By 

Stephanie McBain (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fledgling (Hall Family Chronicles, Book 4) (Paperback)

The Fledgling is about a girl named Georgie who lives in Concord, Massacusetts. She lives with her mother, her mother's husband Freddy, and Freddy's nephew and neice, Eddy and Eleanor.
Georgie is sure that she can fly. She is always trying, and always hurting herself. But Georgie is very small for her age, so is it possible . . .?
Then a giant Canada goose starts taking Georgie away to Walden Pond in the middle of the night to give her flying lessons.
To see what happens, read this book!