Customer Reviews

The Summerfolk.

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

 

 

While spending Mother's Day in the emergency room with my oldest (he cut his leg, 15 stitches), my husband went to find some books for him to read (9 years old) while we waited for the doctor. He returned with a handful of books, Andrew Henry's Meadow among them. We fell in love with this book around page five. My husband wrote down the pertinent information so we could try to find it later for keeps. A few days later, while visiting our local marine museum's childrens room, I decided to straighten up the books and came upon The Summerfolk, also by Doris Burn. I immediately sat down and called my children to my side and read it aloud to them. Once again, love at first read! What a wonderful, wonderful book! Sure to inspire the imaginations of children (and adults!)... my youngest is already planning how to build some of the things he saw in the book (he's only 6)! Definately a keeper!

For 50 cents, a treasure of a book. Found it among all the other castoffs at the Goodwill. Had never heard of it. Why isn't this book a Caldecott winner or something? The pictures and the words are luscious. The characters have names like Fedderly and Twyla Loo, and they swing on vines, float through a swamp on rickety homemade boats, and eat tarts and pigs' feet. The book is about the brief nature of childhood; the long, lazy days of summer; imagination; and playing (and I don't mean playing with the PS2). The Summerfolk is set on June 21, the solstice, the longest day of the year. I read it to my 6-year-old on that day as a kind of acknowledgement of summer. He likes the book too.

In an age of ready made entertainment where children are taught to be couch potatoes, here is a book that will inspire them to new heights of creative (and active) play. The children in this book have taken what materials were at hand and created a magical world of their own making in which to spend the long summer days. My own children loved the book.

In this beautifully black and white illustrated romp, a young boy escapes to the swamp and his ailing boat on the longest day of the year to avoid the summerfolk that swarm the beautiful sea and sandy beaches. He runs into some summerfolk in the swamp, too, but they are unlike any he has ever seen before. A magical spell seems to be cast as the boy sets out on an adventure and learns that there are summerfolk and there are summer folk.This is an enchanting tale and the illustrations are marvelous. Most of the children I have read the book to, have enjoyed it. However, I must admit that as a kid, I hated this book. I thought it was boring. That's the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5.

I have been loooking for this book FOREVER. My mother enrolled me in the Weekly Reader Book Club when I was very small and I have such fond memories of some of those first books. I am trying to find the ones I remember best. This was my favorite book when I was 5 or 6 and I remembered it as "The Summer People". I went to websites for children's books and gave descriptions of this book and got NOTHING. I just happened to find Doris Burn's "Andrew Henry's Meadow"(which I also remember having) at Half Price Books and was struck by the similarity to the book I remembered... so I decided to look up Ms. Burn and there it was "The SummerFOLK". I am so thrilled to finally find this book! YAY!