Fun, Fun, Fun

Albert Baggett was fifteen, freckled and a bit rodenty about the teeth.

Now seriously, how could you not enjoy a book written like this! Can't you just see him?? I was looking forward to a fast and fun read as I preread The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken by Howard Whitehouse for my big kids. It was recommended by my favorite book reviewer, Carrie at Reading to Know, so I knew it would be good (she clued me in to The Mysterious Benedict Society series which the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed).

But I didn't realize quite how fun this book would be, nor did I realize it would not be a FAST read because I would have too much fun savoring the author's word choices, descriptive phrases, and delightful sense of humor. I chuckled aloud, backed up to read an especially clever phrase again, and even shared them with the kids more times than I could count.

For example, the horse who pulled the delivery cart in this tale set in 1894 England was previously described as a carthorse "who was old and unlikely to go anywhere, except home when he was told to. He usually snorted in an elderly, complaining way and thought about carrots" (75). At a critical point in the story, however, "The grocer's van was going at a trot, which was a tremendous surprise for the old horse, who had more or less forgotten how to move at more than a sluggish walk" (169) and climaxed with "The horse had panicked--as any sensible animal who had seen two monsters pass overhead might do--and was galloping in a geriatric fashion" (172).

I laughed out loud at this point. I knew this horse, after all, due to the author's vivid imagery, and the picture of him "galloping in a geriatric fashion" was just too much. I had to read this to the children, (and then define geriatric, of course). And the horse is barely even a character in the book, so just wait until you get to know the main characters!

I had planned to relinquish the book to the kids to read after I finished it, but I'm now thinking it would be a wonderful read aloud (partially just because I selfishly want to vicariously experience their enjoyment). I just don't know if the kids will ever let me stop reading it once I start--it's so fun, they'll be snitching it out of the basket to read ahead when I'm busy. We may have to take a vacation day and just read together--where's the blizzard when I need it?! chuckle

In a nutshell, the book is not about a horse at all, but about a fourteen-year-old girl, Emmaline, and her adventurous twelve-year-old friend Rubberbones (Robert, really, but Rubberbones is much more fun and descriptive), and their eccentric friends and co-conspirators. Emmaline is trying to invent a flying machine but her proper mother thinks she needs to learn to be a lady, so she is sent to a boarding school after which point the book turns into an adventure about the horrors of the school, her escape attempts, and the rescue efforts of her friends.

While some might be tempted to put this in the hands of younger children, I really think my 13 year old son and nearly 15 year old daughter are at the perfect age to read this book. They will more fully appreciate the humor, characterization and the word choices, and some of the vocabulary will still be new to them. I've also heard the recommendation that parents use the age of the main characters as a guideline for the age of the target audience and have found that to be excellent advice for richer appreciation, so I would suggest holding off until around age 12 for children to read this book (and series--for joy, joy, there are two more books I can look forward to reading!) Unfortunately, I'm not sure how many young people will appreciate this series as they are too busy reading trash to appreciate such wonderful books. By trash I'm referring not only to subject matter, but also to poor writing. (stepping off soapbox)

I will also throw in, that for the conservative reader there are a couple topics to be aware of. Some gypsy friends practice palm reading and crystal ball viewing as though it were real (but it's a very small scene) and there is a reference to extinct creatures who lived "millions of years ago". In my opinion, for my children at least, these references are minor and they are old/mature enough to handle it. Again, I wouldn't hand it to my eight year old.

While this book is delightful and fun and an enjoyable break from more challenging classics, it's not all fluff. There are some precious nuggets of wisdom tucked between the clever phrasing and humorous adventures. I could write an entire new post on the insight tucked within the following paragraph.

As they took Rubberbones into the house (his teeth were chattering, but he kept smiling like the Cheshire Cat in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Emmaline realized something. She had spent ages reading about flying. Thinking about flying. Talking about flying. And then along came this boy who never read at all, who had never thought about flying until a few weeks ago, and he simply went out and flew (31).

As CS Lewis says, it's great to read the map--the map is essential, in fact. But if you only look at the map, you never experience the ocean.
And I've saved the best for last!! YOU TOO can read this book!! Simply email the author at professorbellbuckle (at) yahoo (dot) com and he will tell you how to paypal him a mere $21 for the ENTIRE HARDBACK SET--and he'll even autograph it for you! What book lover can pass that offer up?!