*****= An all-time favorite
**** =
Outstanding
***
= Above average
**
= Enjoyable
*
= Good, with reservations
***Wild Robert
by Diana Wynne Jones
Reviewed July 21, 2004.
Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins), New York, 2003. Originally
published in 1989 in Great Britain. 100 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF JON).
I’m a big fan of Diana Wynne Jones. Wild Robert is
a book for younger readers than her usual, perfect for those ready for
beginning chapter books who like a taste of fantasy. Readers of
the popular Spiderwick Chronicles
might be happy to move on to this book.
Heather lives in a castle, but she doesn’t like it one bit.
Her father’s the caretaker of Castlemaine, and all summer the place is
overrun with visitors, and both her parents are occupied showing them
around.
About to give up on finding a place to be alone, Heather goes to
the old mound. She wishes aloud that the legendary Wild Robert could
really come out and deal with all those tourists.
To her surprise, Wild Robert does come out. He is happy to
hear that his relatives are gone, and the castle now belongs to him.
Only he’s not happy with the visitors or the mean old gardener trying
to keep him from the strawberries. Can Heather keep him from turning
her father into a sheep? How can she explain this man in old-fashioned
clothes who thinks he owns the castle?
Diana Wynne Jones takes a light-hearted approach to these problems
and leaves us with a provocative ending that more adventures may follow.
The book will appeal to any child who has a sneaking desire to stir things
up, all in good fun.
Book
Reviews by Sondra Eklund
