Customer Reviews

Swing In The Summerhouse

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Edited February of 2002--Finally, this book is back in print!!!! I read this book so many times as a child and as an adult. I probably borrowed it from the library more often than anyone else in my town. I am buying this book today now that it's back in print!

This is the book you're thinking of. I too read this book as a child and was fascinated by it. There were a number of areas the kids could jump out to through the windows in the Gazebo. I particularly remember one where the children end up inside another person looking out through his eyes. And the last window was "Grow Up Now." I've been looking for a copy of this book for years. Recently I wrote a letter to HarperCollins asking them to consider reprinting it. It's odd that they'd reprint Diamond in the Window but not this one.

I did find a copy of this via the net -- and all of my childhood memories of the fantasic story came flooding back to me. I urge the publisher (Harper Collins/Harper Row) to reissue this book, even in paperback. Imagine a swing in a summerhouse that can transport you, via a jump off of the swing in mid-flight, into alternate worlds, and you can imagine the fun you will have reading this book. It is a wise and imaginative adventure story, with terrific characters that resonate on every level -- and for every age.

I read the first three books of the Hall Family Chronicles when I was a girl. I was lucky enough to find hardcover copies of all three at the same library used book sale in 1982. I decided to reread them all again over this past weekend.

Prince Krishna has built a lovely summerhouse for Eleanor and Eddy Hall. This is no ordinary summerhouse. There's a magical adventure built into each archway. You enter the adventure by jumping off the swing. Once the magic starts, there's only so many swings until the summerhouse disappears forever. The bugs haven't been worked out of the last adventure before Prince Krishna has to fly back to his native country to avert war. Prince Krishna takes precautions by boarding up the archway, painting "KEEP OUT" on the boards, getting Eddy and Eleanor to promise they won't go through that archway, and not putting a swing in the summerhouse.

Prince Krishna's precautions are in vain. Eddy hangs a swing in the summerhouse. Of course Eddy wouldn't break his promise, but his obnoxious friend, Oliver, didn't promise anything. Oliver sees the "keep out" notice as a challenge. He swings until he breaks the boards with his feet, then sails off the swing -- and vanishes! What's poor Eddy going to do? Oliver's parents are very worried, but he can't tell them that Oliver jumped off the swing and disappeared into thin air. They'd think he was nuts. Eddy can't go through the SAME archway because of his promise, but that doesn't mean he can't go through the OTHER archways.

Meanwhile, Eleanor is very suspicious of Uncle Fred's new student, Mrs. Dorian, who has moved next door along with her little girl, Georgie, who isn't even in school yet. Eleanor is sure that Mrs. Dorian is a witch and has bewitched Uncle Freddy, because her uncle acts so silly around her. If you're older than Eleanor, you can probably figure out why.

Eleanor and Eddy don't get along as well as they did in THE DIAMOND IN THE WINDOW. Eddy has become a normal, messy boy who loves junk. He makes Eleanor so mad because she's become a prissy prig. Eleanor can hardly wait until she's old enough to wear pretty dresses and go to dances. She hates the fact that her uncle's school isn't making them rich because Uncle Freddy cares more about teaching than making money. Will the summerhouse show Eleanor the error of her ways?

My favorite archway adventure was "Make New Worlds". Sure, the man-castle and the big clipper ship were neat and the giant cash-register can teach you how much you're worth, but what's that compared to having the worlds you create come alive? (If you don't like the world of Princess Cinderellanor, wait until it's invaded by Eddy and Georgie's worlds!)

Time goes by. There's a tick-tock every time the swing is swung. All the adventures before the dangerous one have been tried, but Oliver is still missing. Eddy boarded up the archway after his friend disappeared, but Georgie is tempted. Georgie wants so much to be able to read and add two and two. Georgie is sure that she'll get what she wants if SHE breaks the boards and goes through. Will she? Of course she will. Who's going to rescue her (not to mention Oliver)? Eddy and Eleanor don't know it, but time is running out....

I read this, and the Diamond in the Window (DIW), as a child and it left such an impression on me that I began looking for it a few years ago so that I could give it to my little girl. I cannot forget the delicious feeling of dread, and excitement that it evoked. I cannot imagine why it is out of print (while DIW is still in print), but I hope someone brings it back! I'd love a 'boxed set' of both books.

Yes! It's back in print . . . but nostalgia hounds, beware. The 2001 paperback edition does not include Erik Blegvad's illustrations (except for the frontispiece.) How unfortunate they chose to reprint it this way; the illustrations were such a huge part of what made this book special and memorable. Well, maybe the next edition will get the proper treatment this incredible book deserves.

This is not a review, but a request. I believe this is the book I'm thinking of, about a brother and sister(I think) that find a gazebo with a swing in it. The vibe is very transcendental, with references to Emerson and Thoreau. I read it when I was about 12, and have never forgotten it. It was very dark, very mature for a children's book. That's probably why I'm so fascinated by it today.

I read this book ages ago as a child and loved it. Spooky and funny and surprisingly insightful. It's funny, this book is a sequel to the Diamond in the Window, but I'd never even heard of the Diamond in the Window until I started looking for a copy of The Swing in the Summerhouse on Amazon. I've since bought a copy of the Diamond...and now I want a copy of The Swing...

this book was one i read as a young boy in ohio. i checked it out from the bookmobile, and i have never forgotten it. the sci-fi style was vaguely like l'engle, which i read much later, but i have never stopped looking for a copy. amazon could not find me a copy, but i refuse to give up hope. i strongly suggest it for any child who finds himself even a little ahead of his classmates in school. it reminds us we are not alone, though we may be geniuses and geeks.

I was a big fan of the Diamond in the Window, and this book was almost as good. The idea of magic portals leading to new worlds was as normal to me as breakfast, lunch and dinner. This book affected my vision of the world, and helped me find a little bit of magic in simple places like doorways and hedges. Why, oh, why is it out of print, along with the Astonishing Stereoscope? When will the publishers hear the pleas of the thousands of people out there who read (and loved) these books as kids and want to read them to their own kids?

It is a time of celebration when this book is re-issued. It was a tremendous book in the 1960s and then Harper Trophy has allowed it to languish. It has been back in paperback a couple of times since then.

The Hall Family Chronicles are set near Walden Pond and deal with themes of Henry David Thoreau and Emerson: transcendentalism. There is a prince from India who brings the magic of the far east to the Hall Family. The local banker and others keep trying to get the Hall Family home destroyed.

It is commerce and crassness versus wonder, experience, human connectedness, and respect for nature. It is also a tremendous amount of fun. These books are American classic fantasies and should be in every library collection.

There are few books available that deal with the ideas and ideals of this series. I would encourage any free-thinking parents to equip their children with these books. They will enjoy reading them as adults as much as they did as children.

I have read most of the Chronicles, hindered by the publishers schedule of re-issuing titles. I am deeply attached to the first two books that I read over and over as a child and found thrilling as an adult. The "newer" books I have read as an adult, so I can't judge what my 8 year old self would have taken out of them. I read the pro-tree and nature "Dragon Tree" series entry recently and adored it.

Langton also writes the Homer Kelly series of mysteries set around the world.