Customer Reviews

The Kingdom by the Sea

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a teacher and I use this book as a class novel. It's a great one for learning about how the war affected families in Britain, but more than that, it is a story with an appealing main character the reader cares about. It grabs you from the first chapter and makes you want to keep reading to see what happens to Harry. It's been very popular with my students. From an instructional point of view, it's a great book for teaching characterization and figurative language. There are many similes, metaphors, and personification. I've read it dozens of times and I still love it!

I have never thought that a book written especially for youngsters could bring tears to my eyes  This book actually has done this and not only once Maybe, it is because I found myself in a bit of an unstable period while reading this story, but I was really surprised that the choice of words by Robert Westall made me a little emotional at times. On the other hand, main character Harry Baguleys strong will to survive and his sense of humour never left him, so there was enough that made me smile. I loved the frequently used nice expressions and metaphors in the story and I was really touched by the beautiful description of Harrys journey back to his hometown, by car in less than an hour. The whole story passes in review, but backwards.
What I DID NOT LIKE nor understood was the way the story ended. The book left me with a very unsatisfied and indignant feeling. I had to peruse the first chapters again to see what I had missed  but even then, I could not find any indications.

After all, I am very curious if the story has the same effect on young people as it has had on me 

For my independent reading book this month, I decided to read:

The Kingdom by the Sea By Robert Westall

I chose this book for two reasons:

First of all, when I read the summary on the back cover, I realised that the story was a fight for survival.

At the moment, we are studying all about survival stories and survival methods in English Literature.

Secondly, the story takes place in England, during World War 2.

I am very interested in books and films about World War 2 because my grandfather was a young German soldier in this war.

When I was younger, he always used to tell me stories about how he survived the war. He was only a young man of 17 when he was sent to the front lines of Russia to fight for his country. I used to listen to his tales eagerly, trying to imagine how he could possibly survive all the danger he lived through.

The Kingdom by the Sea looks at World War 2 from another angle. This time, through the eyes of a 12 year old English boy, the same age that I am now.

Harry Baguely lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England during the war. His town was bombed regulary by the German Luftwaffe. One night, he had just made it safely to a bomb shelter, when a bomb drops on his home and wipes out his family and house. Left alone and unsure what the future will bring, he runs away. The story follows his fight for survival, along with a stray dog, who joins him on the way.

The story helped me to understand what life was like during World War 2 and how you can't trust everybody you meet. Each chapter makes you want to read on to see what happens to Harry. There's also an amazing twist to the story at the end. I could read this book again!

I am always amazed by some of the criticisms on Amazon. Who are these people who think they have the right to judge a writer's work? Could they write a book and get it published? Perhaps if they prefaced their comments with, "In my opinion..." but even then their grammar and spelling is not always correct. "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones."

In my opinion The Kingdom by the Sea is a very good story. I discovered Robert Westall quite by accident but have read many of his books now. This book I think would take 2nd place only to Blitz Cat.

I recommend this book.

The reasons that I like it was that it was easy to visualize. It also had easy vocabulary. I have expectations about reading the other ones. I would also like to read more of Robert Westall.

As a mother reading aloud with a 10-year-old boy, I am always on the lookout for fiction (and nonfiction) that portrays boys as heroic and resourceful beings who do not need to be rescued by girls every time they get in a bind. This book was enjoyed by both of us for its plot and descriptions. I was a bit put off by the creepy child molester and thought that part could have been left out. While parents need to have "that talk" with their kids, it was awkward and not entertaining to have that situation arise unexpectedly during our reading time. I also was surprised by the number of sentence fragments and other examples of poor grammar throughout the book. Authors of kids' books - please help us out by modeling good grammar! We may read another of this author's books; the historical setting and problem-solving by the protagonist were admirable. My son loved the dog.

Criticism of "A kingdom by the Sea."

The book A Kingdom by the Sea reaches out to the reader. I the book a boy's family gets bombed in the 1940's along Britain and he's the only one who survives. Throughout the novel the young boy, Harry Baguley, is on a quest to survive with his new dog. One good "plus" about the novel is the author every once in a while throws out some good action scenes which really allures the readers. Another plus is that in the novel, every conflict leads to another. For example, when the annoying Corporal Merman finds Harry's pillbox, Artie fights with him and teaches him a lesson. A minus is that the author all of a sudden throws out different information, at first it's good, but then it gets annoying. Another minus is that in the first 20 pages, the author makes it difficult for the reader to understand what he is trying to emphasized.
Some advice for the author is to make the ending a little more interesting and a little less boring. The plot is an alright one, but along the middle there could be more action such as conflict or maybe even fights. Otherwise the novel exhorted a good sense of conflict and action