Customer Reviews

The Wind Boy

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm 55 now and have held onto a copy of Elliot's The Wind Boy ever since I was a boy. I remember being read the story and then reading it to myself later. Somehow, and I can't say just how, the story gave me hope -- hope for the world and hope for me as a boy whose father wasn't in the house because of divorce rather than because of a war.

If we could all have the chance to see our lives and worlds from the Clear Land, perhaps we could figure out how to love, how to be peacemakers with more grace and ease.

Must reading for anyone who could use a little more hope or a greater belief in the magic inherent in this world.

The Wind Boy is not my absolute favorite of Ethel Cook Eliot's work, but it's a marvelous story for young children with creative minds and very well written - and an unsung classic. It's also a blessing that one publisher wised up to the great loss to our generation of the difficulty finding her books - best among them I'd say is "House on the Edge of Things", also try to get your hands on a copy of "House Above the Trees". For young adults, "The Vanishing Comrade" is an ABSOLUTE MUST!! and this book is easy to obtain on www.bookfinder.com (Amazon is one of many booksellers listed there).

The basic concept inherent in most of Eliot's books is that all life is interconnected (yet she takes no particular religious tack whatsoever, so the books are truly universal) and that most people (EVEN KIDS!) are simply too jaded to see it, and therefore our blurred vision holds us back from seeing most of the beauty in life. Eliot's characters, however, have clear vision, so we see what some of what they see - a fantasy world unparalleled in modern fantasy lit, in it's idyllic vision. In "The Wind Boy" Nan comes out of the mountains seeking this particular family, the children clearly in need and in a painful situation, their father apparently lost. She teaches the children what we all need to be taught - she brings magic to their lives. The children go on to share the magic with others. What more should we ask of our own children?

I can't imagine a better gift to share with children than Eliot's literature, and while I make no claims at being an expert, I have run the Children's section at a Borders store, I'm a sometime storyteller and I'm a huge collector of children's/young adult lit. If you want a picture book for young kids, and you can't find Eliot's "House" books (they are almost impossible to come by at any price) try Seymour Leichman's "The Boy Who Could Sing Pictures" (also out of print but easily available through Amazon or Bookfinder.

I bless you to see with clear eyes.

This is a book about a family displaced by war, living in a town which dislikes strangers. The father is missing in action; no one knows if he is dead or alive, or how he could possibly find them. When a nanny named Nan joins the mother and two children, fantastic things begin to happem. Nan and other characters rescue the children from the relentless prejudice of the people in the town.

This book provides comfort for anyone who has ever felt singled out or left out. It also gives a valuable lesson on empathy and compassion.

Wind Boy has been read--and adored--by 3 generations in my family. We are delighted to see it back in print.

I bought this book to read to my 5-year old as an alternative to the some of the ridiculously banal children's books out there. He loved it, but so did I. I found myself re-reading the book on my own while running on the treadmill (to keep myself from getting bored). It's so full of beautiful prose and magic and earth and a little of everything. From the first paragaph, I was hooked:

Chapter 1 - The girl from the mountains
"In a spring twilight a young girl was walking down a village street. Just at a glance anyone might know she was a stranger there. For one thing her dress was like nobody's else's. It was the color of sunlight on a brown forest path when the sun is low behind the trees... Do you wonder that people turned to look after her?"

My children were eight and four when we discovered this little gem for a read-aloud together. It was a lovely time. A year later, my five year old will still recall some of the scenes or events from the book. I recommend it to all families!

One of the relative few pre-Tolkien fantasies, originally published in the 1920s, "Wind Boy" is substantially more juvenile than books of that sparse fantasy era. Despite a slightly dated feel, it's a cute little read that children may appreciate as a bedtime story.

A strange girl called Nan arrives in response to an ad for a housekeeper, put out by a refugee family in an idyllic little village. The only problem is a mysterious figure, wearing a cloak and a frightening mask, that is roaming around the neighborhood and scaring the kids. Nan drives the Masker away, then helps out the overworked mother and her two children, Gentian and Kay.

It is soon revealed that Nan is not all she seems. She brings the two children into the fantastical Clear Land to be fitted for silver and gold sandals that can walk on the air. They also befriend the Wind Boy, a beautiful young boy with a pair of purple wings. Gentian and Kay continue their jaunts into the Clear Land with their friends, until the identity of the Masker threatens all of them.

This is a cute little fantasy; the style of it, which includes constant addresses from the author to the readers, is somewhat dated, as is the idyllic village life with such career-named characters like "Artist" or "Policeman." There is no family strife, problematic parents, and there are no villains. However, if the young readers do not dislike these elements -- or lack of them -- then they may like this book. It's ideal for very young kids, as there are no plot complexities or frightening elements.

The writing style is somewhat flat, as often the author addresses the readers rather than describing, for example, Gentian's transitions into the Clear Land. However, the biggest bonus are intriguing scenes such as the weaving of the "starry-brightness," as well as the charming little illustrations.

A cute early fantasy for young kids with a high nostalgia factor. For all sweetness and light, try reading this.

I really liked this book because it made me feel happy and cozy when my mother read it to me at night. I would like to play with the Wind Boy if I could go to the Clear Land. I wish I was the Wind Boy! by Kagan

If your family life is anywhere near as hectic as ours, then a bedtime read of this book is a wonderful way to bring peace and happiness to sleepy children. Her book "The House Above The Trees" has been our favorite so far, but all of this author's stories bring a great sense of comfort to little ones old enough to sit through chapter books. The stories also fit well with the themes of Waldorf education. Enjoy!

I recommend this book to people who like fairy tales. I like it a lot because it has good descriptions for the characters and has really great details. I think there is a little mystery involved in it and some parts are a little sad.

Nan, with her clear eyes that reflect the purple mountains, answers an ad to take care of a refugee family who was forced out of their village after the father, Hazar, went to war. This allegory is an ineffable combination of the mundane and the extraordinary. The mother, Detra, works hard in the factory during the week and at night on sculpting a wonderful figurine of the Wind Boy, who dwells in the Clear Land. The kids, Kay and Gentian, find their way there after being fitted for special sandals by the Shoeman, whose storefront exists in the village while the store is actually located in the Clear Land. This place exists a little above the mundane world but dimmer and clearer "as if viewed through a crystal". The Clear Land calls to mind the end of the 'Last Battle' by CS Lewis where the Pevensies see the mountains connecting Aslan's country around the world. Professor Kirke's house, where their adventures started, still exists there even though it has been destroyed in our world because it is "the England within England, the real England just as this is the real Narnia. And in that inner England no good thing is destroyed."

Kay and Gentian slip into the Clear Land at different times, listening to music in church, standing in the corner at school, in the deep still of the night, and during a day at the woods. Nan is like Mary Poppins in that she comes to help and leaves when she is no longer really needed. When we first meet them, Kay and Gentian don't fit well in school. Hazar has made his way to their country but has not been able to track down his family. Detra is a talented artist but must work in the factory to make a living for her family. The great artist benefactor of the village has a granddaughter, Rosemarie, who is lonely without friends. The children of the village are being terrorized by a masked figure and since the Wind Boy was responsible for making the mask, he is not allowed to play with the Clear Children, his former playmates. Since the Wind Boy is not happy, Detra's figurine has not captured the joy that should be there.

I wish the illustrations had been better or there had been no illustrations at all because they are amateurish and detract from the story. There is one that is okay of the Wind Boy (not the cover) sitting with his knees drawn to his chest. However, the story is lyrical and sweet.