Really very unexpectedly good. I wanted to read the first in the series, especially since its blurb makes it sound like Jumanji, but this was the only one i could find.

Its very much in the vain of E.Nesbit's stories but with some of the surreal darkness of Mary Poppins. However it still stands out as its own thing. Its quite tied to its time and place but that just gives a unique flavour in my opinion.

There are trade off's with the writers style. Its a short and punchy book but that can also mean the characters arn't quite as well developed as some might like, although they still have more personality than many similar characters. Its also very subtle in its lessons but its subtlety might come across as vagueness to others.

The only real issue is a structural one, an element of urgency is introduced but the author isn't ready to deal with it yet so the characters just sort of ignore it.. making them look either foolish or sociopathic depending on your stance :P . Anyway that isn't enough to ruin the story.

Been quite a while since i liked a children's book this much, really nice tone and feel of story.
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I love the addition of Georgie. This is not quite as good as the first just because it can't be as new and surprising, and it has the datedness issues (gender, race), but as always, she is true to her characters and comes up with great adventures. ( )

Light, pleasant fable with strong undertones of how to be a Good Person. I found that the structure and moral underpinning of this book got in the way of the story for me. This happened in the first book as well, but not to the same extent. I liked it well enough, but I did find myself skimming a fair bit. Unless one of the Burtons or CLM gives me a compelling reason to continue, I'm finished with this series. ( )

This was one of my favorite books as a child. I tracked this copy down on eBay. I love it. ( )

Imagine a world of magic and wonder like those of C. S. Lewis and George MacDonald....now imagine that, instead of being an allegory of Christianity, this world is an allegory of...Transcendentalism. You have just imagined Jane Langton's Concord books. Utterly unusual, fantastically magical. ( )