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Loading... The Key to the Indian (1998)by Lynne Reid Banks
None.  shanaqui | Apr 9, 2013 |  This is a good book about Indians that talk to people that are so small that they can stand in the palm of someone's hand.This book is the fifth book in the series of the "Indian in the cupboard" books. At first the mini people thought that the Indians were giants and the mini people were scared.The Indians had to explain to them that they weren't giants and they shouldn't be scared. (  ) dbhutch | Feb 16, 2011 | Level:4.8 Pts: 8.0  rosebuah | Sep 4, 2008 | The Key to the Indian is the fifth book in Lynne Reid Banks' popular Indian in the Cupboard series, and probably my least favorite. I don't care for the time-travel with Omri, Gillon, and their father going back to the times of the people in the cupboard. It is too contrived. The whole charm of the series is the idea that a young boy turns the key in a cupboard and out comes a real live person three inches high. I think Banks tried to get too humanitarian in this book, tying the whole plot to the idea of "saving" the Indians from the awful events of history, at the expense of everything that made the stories compelling up until this point. One thing I did like about this story was that Omri's father is now in on the secret — and eventually his mother too. Those relationships are interesting. But Patrick was odious in this book and too different from how he had been presented in the previous books. I also would have liked to have seen more of Emma and Tamsin, as I always found them to be fascinating characters, but unfortunately they didn't make this story. The plot wasn't very tight and the story seemed to drag on and on. I still enjoyed parts of it very much and will certainly buy it to complete my Indian in the Cupboard series, but it's the weakest of the five. ( )1  wisewoman | Sep 26, 2007 | PLEASE use this book as an opportunity to talk about stereotypes of "grunting indians" and point out that First People are certainly hurt by that. The premise of a story can be quite attractive and we do all feel that (this story is beloved by those who grew up with it for good reason), and children need to know that it is make-believe and unfair to others in their society to assume otherwise. bookwyrmish | Nov 10, 2006 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0380803739, Paperback)It all started with Lynne Reid Banks's The Indian in the Cupboard, the enchanting, suspenseful story of toy figures brought to life through the magic of a cupboard and a special key. Three sequels followed this popular novel--The Return of the Indian, The Secret of the Indian, and The Mystery of the Cupboard--and The Key to the Indian is next in line. At first Omri was alone with his secret of the toy figures and the surprising appearance of the 18th-century Iroquois Little Bear. One day, however, his father finds the figures in his son's room, and locks them in the special cupboard: "Of course they'd come to life inside, and his dad had put a lot of twos and twos from the past together, and realized. And later he'd seen them, been introduced to them. And accepted it.... It took a special kind of grownup not only to accept magic when he saw it but to promise and swear that he'd never, ever tell a living soul." What Omri and his father both now know about is the terrible plight of the Iroquois people during the 18th century--and that Omri's new friend Little Bear is in urgent need of help. Father and son attempt to travel back in time... but things go horribly wrong. They persist for the sake of Little Bear, but at great risk. With history, magic, humor, and all the surprising twists readers have come to expect from Banks, The Key to the Indian will absorb young readers through the very last page. (Ages 9 and older)(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:25:32 -0400) As Omri, his father, and other members of his family learn more about the cupboard in his room, together and separately they are caught up in several dangerous adventures that reveal more about its powers. |
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So flippin' convoluted and fantastical -- and yes, yes, I know, fantasy, but from the simple beginnings of the first book, this stretches a decent idea much too far.
(And that's without even speaking about the stereotypes and racism, etc.) (