Basic Reason for Beginning: It's been two years since a friend and I had the idea to reread this series for Midwinter. I'm determined to complete it this time around! (But, hey, unlike the years before at least I made a start this time around!)
Basic Reason for Finishing: Over Sea, Under Stone is a fun book. Not, you understand, the best of books, but a lot of fun.
Texture: I am much of the Fail of late. I got nothing. Unless this being very much a summer book counts.

Full thoughts here.

Book Rereadability: Well, this is a reread. It'd have more reread potential as a child, as this, if memory serves, is the weakest book in the series. (Not surprising, seeing it was her second book and her first children's book and the second was written around ten years later and all.)
Author Rereadability: Based on this book alone, I'd be perfectly happy to come across more of Cooper's works, but, as I am now, I don't think I'd be eagerly seeking them out. (Definitely get the whole series at once, people!)
Recommendation: More so than the others in the sequence, perhaps, this is a children's book. It's also filled with beauty and scary and Arthurian things and adventure and fun. It's not the strongest book I've ever read, but it's probably one of the most fun books I've ever read! Heartily recommended to children and those young of heart yet to be charmed by the lack-of-polish Cooper achieves in her other works. ( )

This is a lovely beginning to a wonderful series. I was fortunate enough to have read these several times as a kid and now several times as an adult. They are always pleasing and are among the books I wish I could re-read for the very first time.

This first book in the series is a very British sort of story with a collection of children on holiday in Cornwall who have an adventure that involves finding the Holy Grail. Yes, that Holy Grail. It's wonderfully well written and intricately plotted and the characters are so very real that you can't help but fall in love with them. The Drew children are not your typical icons of perfection that you often find in this type of literature. They are cranky and fight amongst themselves and put things where they shouldn't and make each other laugh and do all the silly things that all children do. Combine that with their rather absent-minded parents, the mysterious and wonderful Great Uncle Merriman (sort of a Great Uncle, but sort of not - they call him Gumerry), and assorted evil doers and you've got a delightful and imminently readable story. ( )

Not as compelling as later books in the series but a great, scary introduction. Sets up teh gud an teh ebil very nicely. A definite contender for my library studies 'good vs evil in children's fiction' bibliography. ( )

Three siblings, Simon, Jane, and Barney, find an old map whilst visiting their Uncle Merry. Though at first there doesn't seem to be anything special about it. However, they soon realize there are many people out there willing to do just about anything to get that map. They have to find out what it means before it falls into the wrong hands...

I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and I found the pace just about right. Lots of action with a perfect dispersal of resting points so you can take a break if need be. There was one particular chase scene between Simon and Bill that I just found absolutely breathtaking. For me, that was my favorite part of the entire book. I loved that this wasn't a conventional fantasy (though it did have a bit of a Narnia feel to it, what with the children finding the source of the adventure right within their own home and whatnot). There's no grand adventure, but rather everything just takes place within one town, which I also liked. And they had a dog. I'm very fond of dogs and Rufus was just adorable.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. It felt a bit rushed to me. It also gave the book too much of a prologue feel to it. I know this is just the first book in a series of five, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be a self-contained story, and that's what I thought the entire story was missing: a proper ending. Although from what I've heard, it fits with the next four books so really, it's a small complaint. I'm eager to start in on book #2! ( )