The Village That Slept

openlibrary.org

Chose for Margery Gill's illustrations and just the idea of taking a break from family, making a friend, and setting up housekeeping appealed to me. When I was a child I probably would have loved it for those reasons. Now the implausibility of the amnesia and the lucky breaks of the boy being bilingual and the hut full of supplies and all bothers me a bit, but I'm okay at suspending disbelief.

It really is a wonderful, heartwarming story. I like it much better than the loner survival classics like My Side of the Mountain and Island of the Blue Dolphins. I highly recommend it.

Btw, it also reminds of Christian children's lit. Not too much about faith, but the children do appreciate the church, and they are good and brave on show more purpose, and the ending is a good fit with a Christian message, so I guess I especially recommend it to Christian families. show less

I remember reading this as a child. I loved that the children became so self sufficient. I was glad that when rescued they were able to retain some of their independence and connection. As an adult I saw holes that were not apparent when I was a kid. I love Margery Gill's illustrations. I think they were the reason I picked the book up as a youth.