Customer Reviews

The Secret Three (An I Can Read Book)

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

 

 

This is a great book. I read it regularly with my two oldest children (boy: 7; girl: 4) and they both love it. The story is interesting and engaging. The drawings are rich and creative. And the concept is fun for adults and children. The secret messages foster good conversation as you read and try to decipher the codes with your kids.

The Secret Three is undoubtedly a classic to be enjoyed across generations. I highly recommend it.

The best book ever which brings back wonderful memories of one of my three brothers reading this to me when I was about 5 years old. We used to sit on top of a big chest of drawers behind a curtain and read about three boys who sent messages in a bottle and formed the most exciting club. Matobi. The whole experience was magical and brought the book alive and absolutely real. My four children think this is a book that is amazing and rate this as one of their favourite books. They conjure up all sorts of adventures for the holidays just as I did as a kid. It's brilliant to fire the imagination and get children using make-believe and inventing things from natural materials. A must for a seaside holiday or somewhere near the coast. Enjoy! Relive the magic of your naive and beautiful childhood.

Reason for Reading: The ds read aloud to me for his reader.

Summary: The story of two boys who find a message in a bottle from another boy who must come from the Lighthouse island. So they send a message back with a secret code embedded and so the messages continue until eventually the three boys meet, set up a secret club, and end the summer with a camp out on the island.

Comments: An enjoyable story with plenty going on to appeal to boys: messages in bottles and exploring the beach, secret codes and secret clubs, exploring the lighthouse and camping. The 9yo enjoyed it, especially decoding the secret words in the messages, well enough but not to the degree he has enjoyed other books. While a nice story, the lack of a climax leaves the story without excitement. The illustrations by Arnold Lobel are quite out of character from his usual children's illustrations. The cover picture is indicative of the inside drawings except the palette is limited to yellow, blue and black with the yellow/blue occasionally mixing to make a faint green. It is a very scribbley type of drawing and ds said "It was a good book but I didn't like the pictures."

Still, a nice enough story with real boy characters doing things that boys like to do. The book has been out of print for many years but is readily available used online at low prices.

The book came in excellent condition and as a used item you just never know. This purchase gained my confidence in the rating system of items purchased used. My granddaughter was thrilled to get the replacement copy as her book had been destroyed accidentally. It arrived quickly and in excellent condition. You put a smile on a 5 year old child. Thank you for allowing the process to flow so smoothly.