The Growing Summer

Four children spend the summer with their dotty great-aunt in rural Ireland. She completely neglects them, so they must learn to cook, do laundry, and scrounge food for themselves. The children's interactions are as good as always with Streatfeild, but I found myself skipping large chunks of it.

I missed this as a kid, and it's just as well. *Not* what I read Streatfeild for.

Bought 03 Dec 2007 - charity shop

An unusual Streatfeild and not one I'd come across before. 4 brothers and sisters are sent to stay with their mad aunt in Ireland, where they fend for themselves, make allies, and come across a peculiar runaway. Great fun.

Alex and his three siblings live in London. In the first chapter their father sets off for a year’s international travel. Then disaster strikes, and the children are sent to life with their eccentric Great Aunt Dymphna. She drives like a maniac, lives in a cluttered house, and doesn’t cook regular meals. The children are expected to cook on an ancient stove, to catch fish and collect firewood, and generally be self-sufficient.

Most of the book is about the children’s gradual changes and growth over the summer. They all have to be resourceful and to pull together as a family. Sometimes they wonder if Aunt Dymphna is completely crazy.

The writing is good, the characterisation excellent, and my only niggle was that it ends quite show more abruptly. I’d have liked another chapter, tying ends up more neatly and seeing what might happen in the future.

Still, overall I enjoyed it. It’s a good introduction to Noel Streatfeild for boys as well as girls, and nicely lacking in super-talented dancers or actors.

Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-growing-summer-by-noel-streatfe... show less

Interesting book. I felt sorry for the kids who were tossed into the sea and expected to swim. There seemed a real disconnect between adults and children. The kids didn't really seem to pull together either. No one seemed to like anyone else very much. I was glad that things got better in the end, but it was a long time coming.

I have always loved Noel Streatfeild's books and as a child I got my library to ILL them for me or hunted through second hand book stores to find all of them. She tells the perfect "girls stories". I was always able to find one character in each book that was my favorite. They definitely stand up to re-reads.

Rather hard to read at first, what with the father studying epidemiology in a disease from the Far East. I'm about 1/3 done and cannot figure out if child me would have liked this or not. The children are having a grand adventure, but no hot water and cobwebs everywhere is the stuff of nightmares... I didn't like our cabin for more than a night at a time when I was a child....

Quite old-fashioned, and in some ways truly dated. I have no idea if today's children would like it, either. A fair bit about boys' work vs. girls' work, though an attempt is made to argue against the stereotype. And cables instead of phone calls (never mind internet, which even today's Dymphna would not have). Etc.

My edition (openlibrary) has no illustrations.

I do show more particularly like the game of "tags" in which someone says a line from a poem or tale, the next person says a line starting with the first letter of the last word. So, "Mary, Mary, quite contrary" could lead to "Come be with me and be my love" which could lead to "Love is all you need." (Unless your family decides it's cheating to use the same word again, as in 'love' above.)

Why did the children never pick up any of those books scattered about?
And who (or what) is Eamon-the-fish?

Ok done. I just don't know whether I enjoyed it or not, or whether I would have as a child, or to whom I can recommend it.

Kristine Hansen's review is perfect: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1529118773?book_show_action=true&from_... show less

This was televised in the late 60s (or possibly early 70s), which is how I became aware of it. Four children have to go to stay with their eccentric aunt in Ireland, but she expects them to fend for themselves, which they find uncomfortable and odd at first. They soon make friends and have various adventures.