Comments on: Top 100 Children’s Novels #22: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

By: Louise

Louise — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:58:54 +0000

My dad read this book first, to make sure it wasn’t too scary for me (easily prone to nightmares as a kid). He loved it so much that not only did he give me the okay for it, he ended up buying the entire series for himself. I think the last fiction books he’d purchased for himself before then were James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales. Must be something about the last name!

By: Sondy

Sondy — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:27:27 +0000

And don’t forget! We’ve got a chance to hear Susan Cooper at the Margaret Edwards Luncheon at ALA Annual Conference! (Anyone who reads this blog who will be there, tweet me! @Sonderbooks) I’m really looking forward to hearing her speak, because her books about writing — Dreams and Wishes referenced above — are also excellent.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 18:52:58 +0000

This is one of my favorite fantasies. I always loved the Walker – a great anti-hero for my younger self. The film was a blight on mankind. Blech.

By: Children's Librarian

Children's Librarian — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:29:12 +0000

I completely agree with you about the movie, Betsy. I remember being excited when I heard they were doing it and then extremely dismayed when I watched it and learned that they’d made Will American. American! In a book that couldn’t be more British! I love this series and introduced it to my fantasy book group with moderate success. I first read the series in high school– somehow I missed it as a child even though I’d read most of the other great classic children’s fantasy series– and really liked it, but I liked it even more when I listened to it on audio my first year as a children’s librarian. I finally got all of the Arthurian references, and my King Arthur obsessed heart swooned.

By: rockinlibrarian

rockinlibrarian — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 01:35:01 +0000

There were three books in today’s results that I considered voting for, but I can’t remember which ones (if any of these) I actually went with. This was one of them. Honorary .5 points from me.