Francie on the Run (Bantry Bay) [Paperback]

Hilda Van Stockum (Author), Hilda Van Stockum (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Bantry Bay

Dutch storyteller Hilda Van Stockum called Francie O'Sullivan her favorite character. He's a spunky little Irish boy with the qualities of Jack the Giant Killer and the boy David. Be a part of his adventures!.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Bethlehem Books (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883937132
• ISBN-13: 978-1883937133
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #771,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Tom Sawyer, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Francie on the Run (Bantry Bay) (Paperback)

Read any of Hilda van Stockum's three Bantry Bay books, and you will come to the conclusion that she is one of the finest authors of children's fiction. Period. And six year-old Francie O'Sullivan is perhaps her finest creation. Francie will make you his friend, nay, his admirer. This bold little boy has all the panache of Tom Sawyer as well as the goodness and piety Tom lacks. FRANCIE ON THE RUN tells of Francie's adventures on his roundabout journey home to County Cork after he sneaks out of a Dublin hospital where he is recovering from surgery. This novel, the second in the series, can be read on its own. I suggest, however, that you read THE COTTAGE AT BANTRY BAY first; you'll want to find out how Francie's impoverished family was able to send him to Dublin. All three books, but especilly FRANCIE ON THE RUN, are first and foremost corking good stories: my three year old never tires of having them read to him; yet older children, even teenagers (and adults too), will find them thoroughly enjoyable reading. The greatest beauty of these stories, however, is the author's masterful way of teaching children virtue without sounding preachy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable romp through Ireland, January 9, 2011

By 

Florentius (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Francie on the Run (Bantry Bay) (Paperback)

Having finished The Cottage at Bantry Bay, my children immediately began agitating to read this book, which is the next in the series. Like the previous book, this one tells a story that is clever, funny, and utterly charming from beginning to end.

Francie, one of the O'Sullivan children, was born with a club foot. At the end of The Cottage at Bantry Bay, the O'Sullivans come into enough money to send Francie to a hospital in far off Dublin to get an operation on his foot. Away from his family, seven year-old Francie is kept in the hospital several months as he recuperates. Eventually, he tires of waiting for the doctors to release him and decides to escape. This sets off a sequence of adventures that sends poor Francie the length and breadth of Ireland where he meets all sorts of interesting characters. Francie has an undeniable Little Lord Fauntleroy quality to him and successfully endears himself to most of those he meets--in particular, a girl his own age named Pegeen.

If possible, I think my children enjoyed this book even more than the first one. They laughed again and again at Francie's adventures and enjoyed trying to figure out what would happen next. What I particularly liked about this book, as well as the previous one, is that the characters are good role models of childhood behavior. Francie is a noble little fellow and though he occasionally makes childishly foolish decisions or loses control of his tongue, his intentions are always good. I enjoyed listening to my kids laugh when Francie did something clever and groan when he did something that they knew would lead to trouble.

So Francie on the Run is another book we all recommend. Now, on to the final book in the O'Sullivan family series, which is about the girl Francie met on his journey--Pegeen.