Customer Reviews

Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound

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

 

 

I don't know if Irving has any more children's books in him -- I certainly hope so. This one is an excellent first effort, and anyone familiar with his novel "A Widow for One Year" already knows the story.

My three-year-old son sees and hears ghosts and monsters everywhere. He's not afraid of them; they're just there, part of his nighttime world. This book is right up his alley, full of spooky speculations about what might be, and even when the simple explanation comes out, why, that just might be scary too. This is far more interesting to my son than if everything had just been hunky-dory A-OK. In a moment this became his favorite book.

I'm a huge Irving fan, and I'm delighted that I can now share his work with my sons before they turn 18.

This is an interesting book for children who have fears of the dark and night time noises. It offers comfort in reality rather than fantasy. While acknowledging the fears of the child, this book does not try to ease them. I initially did not like the book because it left me without a "good" feeling by it's end. I felt no resolution. But this is why I like it now. It is a story that illustrates the scary reality of the unknown without trying to give the reader answers. This book is real and it has a sense of humour too.

I really like John Irving's writing and have all of his books!
This one sounded really interesting and I was curious whether it would work for both adults and children. I found that this book could entertain both adults and children and was written in a way that was at a child's level, but not talking down to them. It was realistic as well as creative and a unique style of writing for a children's book.

John Irving is without a doubt my favorite author. I purchased this book for my 4 year old nephew. It is a simple mysterious tale that seems to keep his interest no matter how many times he hears it.

I received this book from Amazon and promptly read it to my 2-year old daughter who hears several books read aloud each night as part of her go to sleep for the night routine. I'm a big fan of John Irving and loved the idea that he had written a children's book, giving my daughter a chance to become one of his fans as well at quite the young age. She typically makes it very clear which books are among her favorites. Time will tell whether this one gets added to that list, but based on the first reading I suspect that Mr. Irving and the very talented illustrator he worked with have passed her test. It certainly earn points for not being the typical all ends on the happiest of notes children's book that I am accustomed to reading. My wife commented as I read that the book might give our daughter nightmares. I can't say if it did or not, but when asked how her sleep time went this morning her response was a novel and surprising - "interesting". Coincidentally I happened to read this book directly after reading one called Scaredy Mouse that my wife bought the day before. That book is especially charming and was an instant hit with our daughter. I mention this only because it was interesting to read aloud two books in a row, one featuring a mouse that is terrified of a cat (and everything it sees that it initially mistakes for the cat), the other featuring two little boys who are imaginitively frightened by an unseen mouse. Due to the rodent role reversal in these tales I think I'll continue to read them back to back.

A child's view on things that go bump in the night. I love John Irving's adult novels. This children's book has beautiful illustrations, and the story is scary without being too scary to read to children.