Goodnight Mister Tom: Michelle Magorian (A Puffin Book)

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As I mentioned, I read this book when I was ten and now twelve years later this book was still beautiful. It has aged extremely well.

The second half of the book takes on serious issues of child abuse/neglect, the horrors and losses of war, and the grieving process. It's done in such a way that it wouldn't be overwhelming for a young adult (age 12 and up) to read about. I think that this book is a fantastic story. It is really engaging to read. I really wanted to move on and carry on with the story. Carnegie Medal Award". 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University ( CCSU). Retrieved 4 August 2012. A novel full of adventures in the countryside with friends, the spirit of helping each other in times of trouble, cozy nights next to the fire with books and dialogue with humour and warmth.

Magorian and Mister Tom won the annual once-or-lifetime Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, judged by a panel of British children's writers. [2] She was also a commended runner-up for the Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising the year's best English-language children's book published in the UK. [3] [a] To avoid a gang of bullies during the summer holidays, 12-year-old Elsie eagerly accepts a role in a play at the local theatre. One of my final List of Betterment books and a true classic. I read so many children's books these days and now realise how high the benchmark for real literature can and should be for children. Some found themselves being expected to sing for their supper by helping on the farms they were sent too. Slowly but surely, with Mister Tom’s kindness and wisdom, and the help of the good people in the nearby community, Willie begins to flourish. He makes friends, and discovers what it’s like to have a normal childhood.

A heartwarming and heartbreaking story. Really enjoyed following William's story of a war evacuee child and being placed with Mr Tom in little Weirwold.

Buy this book from hive.co.uk to support The Reading Agency and local bookshops at no additional cost to you The other protagonist of the novel, Willie is an eight-year-old evacuee from Deptford, a neighborhood of London. After a huge threat of bombing raids from the German Air Force in his hometown, Willie is sent to Little Weirwold, a country village in the north of England. When Willie arrives on the doorstep of Mr. Tom, he is a nervous, scrawny, and quiet little boy. He has been subjected to intense abuse and neglect from his extremely religious mother all of his life. This abuse has shaped Willie into someone who can barely engage in a conversation with Mr. Tom and frequently wets the bed. Everything in his new home initially terrifies Will, such as a squirrel in the yard and Sammy the dog, who he eventually comes to love.

I have really enjoyed reading Good night Mr Tom as it make you want to read on. It is really emotional and joyful at the same time.

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William Beech is an evacuee from London during WWII, and Tom Oakley is the reclusive elderly man who has the boy foisted upon him. Will is a child who has been abused and bullied and his fear is evident almost immediately to Mr. Tom, who is a very kind man at heart. The reader witnesses the growing relationship that saves these two people, who don’t always fit with the rest of the world, as they face both everyday life and some traumatic experiences together. When I read a book like this one, I try to imagine what my eight or ten year-old self would have thought of it. I’m pretty sure she would have loved this and read it more than once. It is beautifully written, very sweet and uplifting, and inspires kindness and a view of the world as a place that will rescue you. Even through the horrors facing people in WWII London we are shown the true love that can happen from makeshift families like that made up of Mr. Tom and Willie. It's a book that changed my life as a child. It made me feel safe to know that even when we're at the worst places in our lives that there are still possibilities.