The Summer Birds

by Penelope Farmer

Book Overview

A strange, magical boy approaches Charlotte and Emma Makepeace on their way to school one day, and offers to teach them to fly. Soon all of the children in the village have learned, and are given one... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152824855
• ISBN13: 9780152824853
• Release Date: January 1962
• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Age Range: 9 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 6

Customer Reviews

Vivid and beautiful

I read this book when I was about 9 yrs old. To this day- 20 years later- I still recall the feelings evoked from the story. The descriptions were so vivid, I felt I was in the story with the children. It made me fall in love with reading and I am now purchasing a copy to read to my daughter. A must read for any child!

A book I will always remember

I read this book as part of a summer reading program when I was in fourth or fifth grade. I never forgot this book and like another reviewer stated--it ignited my love of reading. I was fortunate enough to locate a copy and have shared it with my young sons. I hope I age in a similar manner to the teacher who understood the children and the wonderful boy. Please share this book with the young people in your life.

It's been 10 years, and I still rember

I read this book when I was in sixth grade. It had a profound effect on my life. After I read the book, I fell in love with reading. It was a school libray book, and I only read it once, but it was one of those books that I won't forget. I rember vividly details of this book, especially the relationship between the boy and the other children in the town. I would love to have a copy of this book for my own children one day.

Maybe not living up to 'Charlotte' but it's still excellent

In the Summer Birds, the first book about the Makepeace sisters, Charlotte and Emma find a boy on the road who teaches them to fly, and then teaches the rest of the village children. This book is a good introduction to the characters in Emma in Winter, as well as a superb introduction to Charlotte, her way of thinking, and the way she is. Unfortunately, unlike in the other novels, what happens isn't explained as cathartic; that is, in the others, it's prefectly clear the Makepeace sisters' experiences are ways of healing and protecting themselves from their parent's death. Thus, the novel isn't as 'deep' as the others. What I liked most about The Summer Birds, as well as the other books in the trilogy, is that I relate so well to Charlotte: I was constantly teased in grammar school and called a prig because I never got in trouble and was too shy to even speak up in class. I think most children go through this in one form or another. But either way, this novel clicks immediately with the reader...