The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean [Audio CD]

Alexander McCall Smith (Author), Charlotte Parry (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Recorded Books; 1ST edition (2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1428103880
• ISBN-13: 978-1428103887
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,362,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He is now Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He has written more than fifty books, including a number of specialist titles, but is best known for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which has achieved bestseller status on four continents. In 2004 he was awarded British Book Awards Author of the Year and Booksellers Association Author of the Year. He lives in Scotland, where in his spare time he is a bassoonist in the RTO (Really Terrible Orchestra).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Desperately Seeking Sisters, June 14, 2006

By 

Jon Linden (Warren, N.J. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean (Hardcover)

In this second book in the "Harriet Bean" series, McCall Smith brings us an interesting and fanciful story. Harriet discovers that her father has 5 sisters, but that he has lost touch with them. To increase the mystery, her father produces a picture of all of them, himself included, without any faces. The painter had been sent away before he was able to paint faces, for lack of additional funds.

Harriet is irresistibly drawn to find them. Her need to complete the picture of her family is virtually obsessive. Yet it is truly appropriate. For most people in the end, it turns out to be family that is the most important and the most long lasting of friends and companions. Perhaps this is the primary lesson of Smith's book.

In particular, this young to young adult book is specially focused on character development. While Smith always pays attention to character, here for children, he is especially careful. Each of the missing sisters has a distinct character, in fact character is often the method by which Harriet finds the ones that are missing. As an interesting twist, Smith makes two of Harriet's sisters, detectives who run a "Ladies Detective Agency" reminiscent of Smith's other series on that topic. Imagine the wondrous detective stories Smith will weave for us when he puts Harriet together with her Aunts the detectives.

The book is recommended for all readers from age 5 to 105. It is fun, it is interesting and it is well written.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Chapter Book my Kids have Read, January 9, 2007

By 

Kathryn Evans (MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean (Hardcover)

This is the best chapter book my kids (six-year-old girls) have read, and they've read a lot. Before discovering the Harriet Bean series, they would sit down and read only one chapter of a book. After receiving "The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean" and "Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats" as gifts, however, they couldn't put them down. They immediately read "Five Lost Aunts"--in one sitting--and read "The League of Cheats" the next day, also in one sitting.

Like my daughters, I love every book in the Harriet Bean series. ("The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean" is first in the series, followed by "Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats" and then "The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean.") In my own list of favorite chapter books, this series is tied for # 1 (along with the "Sarah Plain and Tall" series). It reminds me a bit of the Junie B. Jones series because it is hilarious, but it is better written. It's also more engaging than Junie B. because it's a mystery, and kids are compelled to keep reading not only because of the humor but also because they are driven to find out how the mystery is solved.

I strongly disagree with the reviewer from the "School Library Journal," who says the Harriet Bean books are contrived. This review misses the point of the genre. The point is not to have a realistic plot but rather to engage children with humor, charming characters, and suspense.

I also appreciate the strong female protagonists in this series. My favorite scene is when Harriet learns about her aunt Veronica, who is a strong-woman in a circus. Veronica was originally told that, as a female, she couldn't enter a strong-man contest, but she enters in disguise and beats all the boys and men. This is one of the most hilarious, gratifying, and empowering scenes I've encountered in a children's book.

I can't recommend this series strongly enough. It will engage good readers (the writing is very well-crafted), and it will inspire reluctant readers to keep reading, just as the Harry Potter series does. I wish Alexander McCall Smith would write more books in this series!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Books!, March 31, 2009

By 

K. Westover "Karen's Folly" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean (Bloomsbury Chapter Books) (Paperback)

My 6-year-old grand-daughter loves these books! We recommended them to cousins (boy-7 and girl 10) and they love them, too. I like reading them to her. They are interesting, funny and easy to read. We highly recommend them, even to kids who aren't much into reading. They will love these stories!