The Time Bike [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Jane Langton (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

The strangest things seem to happen to the Hall family. Now their adventure is with time itself. It starts when Eddy receives an unusually large packing crate from his uncle, Prince Krishna, containing an old-fashioned bicycle complete with wicker basket. The bike has more than that, though: It possesses the ability to travel through time!

An accelerated Reader® Title

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-Eighth-grader Eddy Hall and his older sister Eleanor plan to use their time-traveling bicycle to improve the past and avoid hassles in the future, until several misadventures show them that time is too powerful for even an enchanted bike to change. Readers may recognize Eddy and Eleanor as the protagonists in The Diamond in the Window (1973) and four sequels including the much honored The Fledgling (1980, both HarperCollins). The Time Bike retains the charmingly old-fashioned, somewhat breathless style of the previous books, although the Concord, MA, setting is updated with references to computers, mountain bikes, and the millennium. Unfortunately, in this title, the siblings' magical adventures and their experiences with family and community members are not always clearly linked or fully developed, which are the great strengths of the earlier books, and readers unfamiliar with those titles will find the secondary characters unconvincing. Although fans of the previous entries will find The Time Bike more enjoyable than newcomers, it is still the weakest book in an otherwise strong series.
Beth Wright, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, VT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

After 16 years of mostly mysteries for adults, Langton resurrects the Concord cast of Fragile Flag (1984) and its predecessors for a charming, if patchwork, time-travel tale. The expensive new bike that Eddy receives for his birthday is stolen, then replaced by an old-fashioned one from his royal Indian uncle. Meanwhile, local bank president Ralph Q. Preek has ordered Uncle Freddy and Aunt Alex to produce a vanished deed or vacate their rambling old house, and Eddy's older sister Eleanor is having fantods waiting for an in-crowd party invitation that never arrives. Once Eddy discovers that the old bicycle is a time machine, he, Eleanor, and his hamfisted friend Oliver each hare off into the past on ill-conceived adventures. Eleanor, for instance, wheels back to 1938 in a vain effort to save the life of movie star Derek Alabaster. Eddy, pushing off for Julius Caesar's time, ends up on a deserted beach after realizing too late that ancient Rome is far from Massachusetts in space as well as time. These parallel plot lines either dovetail in hyperconvenient fashion--a piece of paper that Eleanor just happens to pick up from the ground in 1938 turns out to be the missing deed--or trail away unresolved, creating a succession of loosely linked episodes but no unified story. Still, the major characters are easy to like (or, in Preek's case, despise), and the magical events are folded into the fabric of everyday life so neatly that they seem to belong there. (Fiction. 10-12) -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 170 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (April 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786240571
• ISBN-13: 978-0786240579
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,275,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've written an awful lot of books. There are eleven for middle-aged children, mostly fantasies. The ones that have hung around the longest are "The Diamond in the Window" and "The Fledgling." The seventh in the series called "The Hall Family Chronicles" came out last spring, "The Mysterious Circus," and I've just finished writing an eighth, "The Dragon Tree."

All eighteen mysteries for adults have the same protagonists, Homer and Mary Kelly. Mary is the sensible one, but I confess I like Homer's rhapsodic flights of fancy. Most of their adventures happen in Massachusetts, but I've also sent them to farflung places I wanted to visit myself, like Florence, Oxford and Venice. Most of the novels are illustrated with my own drawings, but "The Escher Twist" has ten prints by the mysterious Dutch artist M. C. Escher, and the two historical mysteries are illustrated with nineteenth-century photographs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars charming and thought provoking, October 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Time Bike (Hall Family Chronicles) (Hardcover)

While not as wonderful as Diamond in the Window and the novels that follow (Swing in the Summerhouse, Astonishing Stereoscope, Fledgling, Fragile Flag) this is nonetheless a lovely, funny, thoughtful book and a worthwhile continuation in the saga of the eccentric Hall family of Concord, MA. I'm not sure how well it stands alone. The entire series is best appreciated in relation to the other novels (why, why, why doesn't the publisher put out a boxed set of paperbacks for the current genenration? )However, my children and I enjoyed it immensely, and we all hope against hope that Mrs. Langton will write more books in the series. They even inspired us to go to Concord for our spring break vacation last year!

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't live up to the series, August 31, 2000

By 

Ivy (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Time Bike (Hall Family Chronicles) (Hardcover)

The Time Bike is the sixth book in Langton's loosely-connected Concord series for children. Although it does contain references to the prior novels, it can stand alone. Unfortunately, it can't stand too well, with or without its predecessors - The Time Bike is a disappointing entry in a series that contains wonderful books like The Astonishing Stereoscope and The Fledgling.

Edward's new bike is stolen, but he recieves another one from Prince Krishna, the deus ex machina of this series. To Eddy's dismay, the replacement bike is old-fashioned. At first he's embarrassed to be seen with it, but he feels better about it after he discovers it can travel through time. He and his associates have a few disjointed temporal adventures and defeat the nefarious Prawn and Preek.

The Time Bike lacks both the intelligence and the magic that made the first four books in this series so marvelous. The other books, too, benefitted from a sense of unforced depth and penetrating insights, while this book skims along the surface and very deliberately does not look too long or too hard at anything.

Over all, a rather depressing book, with flaws I hope will be corrected in future entries in the series. Jane Langton's children's fiction is well worth reading - but please, start with The Diamond in the Window. Starting with The Time Bike is a disservice both to the series and to the author.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Time Bike is the best book I've read, March 1, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Time Bike (The Hall Family Chronicles) (Paperback)

This book is about a boy who gets a bike for his birthday. The bike was the newest one in town. When the boy leaves it unchained on his front porch it gets stolen. A few days later a prince that is that is married to his older sister sends him a new bike from the 1980's but the boy didn't know that it was magic and could travel through time. The boy makes some big mistakes while traveling through the past and future. He makes a really big mistake but you will have to read the book to find out what it is.

I think you should read this book because it is a great fantasy book. It will really blow you back on your heals! It is also a great children's book. You should read it today.

-Brendan