Skip to main content

Book Review: Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

Goodnight Mister Tom

Title: Goodnight Mister Tom
Author: Michelle Magorian
Published: 01/08/1996, Penguin Books
Pages: 386
Source: No idea... it just appeared when I was little... possibly from my granny's house
Format: Paperback
Rating: 3.5/5
Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stand on the brink of WW2. A sad, deprived child, she slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in London.



I'm so glad I finally reread Goodnight Mister Tom! This was definitely one of my favourites when I was a child and I still love watching the movie whenever it's on TV.

Whilst rereading, though. I couldn't help but notice how big this book is! I must have been about 8 the first time I read Goodnight Mister Tom and its nearly 400 pages! I think that's massive for a children's book. It is a very fun read, but at the same time, it's heartbreaking. I think it's the perfect book to gradually introduce children to both World War II, as well as abuse. In my opinion, it's actually quite a hard-hitting story.

I absolutely adore Mister Tom. I love how his hardened heart just melts with the introduction of Will into his life. It's like this little boy gives him a reason to live again. He's such a grumpy old man, but you really can't help but love him. He's just a real softie at heart.

I absolutely love the transformation of Will throughout the story. He starts off as quite a meek, sad boy and, gradually, turns into a happy, playful and confident boy. It's actually quite astounding what Mister Tom's care does to him. He's just a completely different boy by the end.

I honestly love all the characters so much. The only one that annoys me is Zach. He's just a bit too self-obsessed and "in-your-face" for my liking. Though he is great for Will.

Goodnight Mister Tom's plot is quite gradual in speed. It sort of reflects the quite country life that Will is introduced to. And it was never too slow. The story covers a year-long period at just the right pace. There are also plenty of little plot twists to keep the story interesting, especially for a child.

I think Goodnight Mister Tom is just an all-around lovely book that definitely stands the test of time. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone, and even the movie (it's just perfect). I'm just so glad I finally reread it!




Follow me via GoodreadsTwitterBloglovin, and Pinterest.

Feel free to leave a comment.

Comments

  1. I've been wanting to reread this for the longest time! It's the one book I read in school that I actually enjoyed. I'm glad to see you enjoyed it just as much the second time around, I was worrying that I might not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you do get the chance to reread it soon. I have a lot of great memories from School surrounding this book too.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feature and Follow (29 May)

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of  Parajunkee’s View  and Alison of  Alison Can Read . Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! I'm one of the featured blogs this week! Along with Amanda of  The Darling Bookworm . This week’s Question: How many books have you got on your TBR list? I recently had a bit of a cull of my TBR list so now it is sitting at 269. I'm trying my hardest to get it below 200 by the end of the year but I really don't see it happening. I'd currently be happy if I managed to get it below 225. However, I did recently have a look through my TBR on Goodreads and deleted a few books that I don't think I will actually ever read - I'm not even to sure how they got there anyway. Follow me via  Goodreads ,  Facebook ,  Bloglovin  and  Pinterest  and also via email to myexpandingbookshelf@gmail.com.  Feel free to leave a comment.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Me

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is ten books I wouldn't mind Santa leaving under my tree.

Book Beginnings, The Friday 56 and Feature and Follow (3 April)

Book Beginnings is a meme hosted every Friday by  Rose City Reader  where you share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.  Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.