By: Elizabeth Goudge Publisher: Puffin Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Puffin Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 240 Publication Date: December 31, 2001 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Book Description: When orphan Maria arrives at Moonacre Manor, she feels as if she's come home. Her new guardian is kind and funny, and everyone there is like an old friend. But beneath the beauty and comfort lies a tragedy. Maria is determined to find out about it, change it, and give her own life story a happy ending. This new-fashioned story is just as satisfying and memorable as your favorite fairy tale.
"The theme is as old as the fairy tales, and it is written with a haunting beauty of wording and atmosphere . . . A book to cherish, to read again and again and again." (The Saturday Review )
I Absolutely Adored Putting This Book Down As a lover of children's books, I can sadly say that this is one of the worst I've ever read. Is it really meant to be for children? I've never read anything quite so dull. I tried to force my way through the last half, but I simply couldn't do it. I'm writing a review because half of a book is plenty to start getting interesting, and because so many darned people gave it five stars (?!).
The heroine, Maria, is conceited, restrained, and obsessed with perfecting herself to the satisfaction of her elders. She can ride her horse about and ooh and aah over pink-iced fairy cakes all she wants--she's still the most unchildlike child I've ever encountered.
Of course, it is set in the Victorian era, which is, you know, full of dull. Ordinarily, when a children's book is set in this period, the child does everything they can to escape the monotony of their life, and something amazing and exciting happens as a result. Maria instead embraces the stiff-backed compliments and frilly clothes, and not even a lion-like dog, panther-like cat, imaginary friend who is real, unicorn, and age-old family feud can save this book.
My goodness, I hope I didn't just make it sound exciting.
The Little White Horse contains a horrible moral about curbing curiosity, though curiosity is one of the chief reasons that babies and young children learn so readily. This moral is pounded into the reader's head, reappearing over again more than halfway into the book, despite the pastor already having chastised Maria over her "female curiosity". It certainly seems to only be a sin in women, making it an even more perverse lesson. Patience might have been a better choice for keeping Maria from investigating too far and maintaining the mystery of the novel. (And by the way, the mystery of her family's past and several other things are only withheld because Maria decides not to ask questions, which makes the whole mystery rather annoying, since she could solve it if she actually tried.)
We all know that The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe has Christian symbolism. It is fairly subtle though, and I never noticed it when I was little. The Little White Horse, however, bashes you over the head with a cross and hurls you into the pews. I never approve of this sort of thing, since if one is already a Christian they can't be converted, and if they aren't this dry children's novel certainly won't convert them (not appropriate to attempt in a children's book anyway; children hate having lessons hurled at them). It becomes a repetitive theme that further takes away from any potential magic, mystery or adventure.
Another nice theme is woman-hating. The men in the book despise women and instead of being insulted by this, Maria and Miss Heliotrope do their best to please and are relieved to find themselves exceptions. I'm not a feminist by any means, but come on!
Now about the writing style...it's not so great. I would say that the majority of this book is spent on what everyone's wearing and eating. Almost nothing jumped out of the page at me or filled my mind with sights, sounds, or images. There is so very much description of shrubs and ruffles and hills and cream that midway through I was nearly immune to any more of it, even if it happened to be rather nice. By the middle of the book it felt as though my senses had been dulled and I read dialogue with equal interest to dress descriptions. It was to such an extent that evil men stealing sheep during a thunderstorm failed to spark my interest. In fact that was where I gave up, as I suddenly realized that other than Maria saving a hare from a trap, that was the ONLY event involving any kind of danger or adventure within the entire first 130+ pages!
So there you have it. The main character is horribly dull and over-admired, the writing style is passive and wordy, the morals are annoying, and nothing happens for a very, very long time (and I suspect after the sheep-thieving there was another long stretch of nothing). One of the WORST children's stories I've ever read. In the beginning it reminded me of The Princess & The Goblin, and that is a wonderful story that I can wholeheartedly recommend instead. For something COMPLETELY different, I just finished Summer of the Monkeys and it's a ton of fun.
Delightful, magical little story - won the Carnegie Medal for children's literature in 1946 I was drawn to reading 'The Little White Horse' when I first saw J. K. Rowling's comments about the book ...'I absolutely adored 'The Little White Horse. It had a cracking plot... It was scary and romantic in parts and had a feisty heroine.' So, having not read the book as a child I've come to it as an adult and thoroughly enjoyed it!
The year is 1842 and Maria Merryweather is a petite plain orphaned girl with silvery-grey eyes, straight reddish hair and a thin pale face. She has had to leave the London that she knows, selling her father's house to pay debts, and is off to live with her nearest relative at the Manor of Moonacre in the West Country, taking with her her much-loved, if stern, governess and their canine companion Wiggins.
Maria takes to her cousin Sir Benjamin Merryweather immediately, and falls in love with Moonacre with very little effort. She soon meets the friendly villagers from nearby Silverydew, is re-acquainted with an old childhood friend, Robin, and learns of an ancient story about the foundation of Moonacre which will have a great effect on her future... Soon Maria longs to be the one to restore tranquility and peace to her much-loved Moonacre Valley. Throughout it all, more than anything, Maria longs for another glimpse of the little white horse she first spotted on her arrival at Moonacre one wintry moonlit night...
This is a lovely heart-warming story of innocence, friendship, discovery, magic and ultimately good fighting evil. A pure delight.
Look out for the new film based on the novel, which is set to appear sometime in 2008 - filming apparently started in October '07. The film is due to be called 'The Secret of Moonacre'.
A lovely , beautifully written fantasy If you are cynical, negative, and have a stunted imagination, you won't like this story. However, if you enjoy upbeat, beautifully written fantasy tales, it's likely that you, like me, will adore it. Granted, there are heart-wrenching, frightening moments and a sneering villian, but all comes right in the end and nothing truly horrific or disgusting happens. What a relief from most modern writing! The descriptive writing is exquisite; I felt that I was right there seeing, hearing and feeling everything. There are some interesting mysteries which are neatly solved to the satisfaction of all. The mood of the book is enchantment from beginning to end.
You missed a couple, Elizabeth Goudge! The Little White Horse is about Maria Merryweather, the newest Moon Princess at Moonacre Manor, and her quest to bring perfect happiness to the village of Silverydew by saving it from the wicked, wicked ways of the Men from the Dark Woods. Along the way she reunites estranged lovers, returns a monastery to the Lord and discovers her One True Love - all fresh from orphanhood at the age of 13, and only with the help of pluck, curiosity, magical animals, a host of early-risers and the reader's hyperactive suspension of disbelief.
Perhaps in 1946 (or in 1842, the setting of the story) poachers and cattle rustlers were thwarted by sashaying into their castle, partaking of their dinner of fish and stolen beef and then suddenly piping, "You should trade with the village people." These days we know that it takes a gun and a call to the sheriff.
But Monsieur Cocq de Noir, arch-eyebrowed arch-villain of this piece, should not only trade with The Village People, he should also befriend them, carouse with them and exchange fashion tips with them. Here is a man who has adopted The Black Cock as his emblem and lives in a castle with "the men of dungeon and wall" who love waving their cudgels and swords around. He is one who requires the correct accessory for every occasion, even the examination of conscience. To Maria he says, "Give me those pearls, and I might seriously consider the mending of my ways."
Elizabeth Goudge wrote fairy-tale-perfect endings for several couples and yet missed an opportunity to develop a friendship between Monsieur Cocq de Noir and one who could have introduced him to more gustatory delights than just roasted beef and broiled fish.
Tell me if Sir Benjamin's cook isn't the perfect one to whip the leader of the Men of the Dark Woods and his castle dungeons into shape:
'Marmaduke Scarlet is scarcely a man, Miss Heliotrope', comforted Sir Benjamin. '... his revealing himself to you is an enormous compliment, for as a general rule, his dislike of the female sex causes him to avoid all women...'
'So now I know,' said Miss Heliotrope. 'And I could not have believed that so small... a gentleman... could have been so expert a housewife!'
Why M. Scarlet's revelation of his small... self to Miss Heliotrope was a compliment could only be guessed by this reader, but there you go: he's the perfect housewife.
This reader would even suggest the perfect binding ceremony gift for Monsieur Cocq de Noir and M. Scarlet: something to hold M. Scarlet's kitchen knife. Under a tree Maria found a "sheath... beautifully made in the shape of a cock."
This book is for girls who still believe in kind lions and shining unicorns, boys who love baking and interior decorating, adults who were children in the 1940s and people who snigger at unintentional double entendres.
great fantasy- a must read I bought this book many years ago when my family was going on vacation. I just loved it and have read it numerous times since then.....most recently to my daughter who also loved it. Feminists (which we are) should take some of the concepts with a grain of salt but the tale is beautifully crafted and satisfying.
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