We are delighted to present the following book review on the children's novel 'Goodnight Mister Tom' written by a Year 6 pupil. Well done and keep reading! ____________________________________________________ TITLE OF BOOK: Goodnight Mister Tom AUTHOR: Michelle Magorian THE REASON I AM WRITING THIS: I decided to read this book because I have been learning about World War II at school. We have been learning about the children who were evacuated to the countryside. OUTLINE OF THE STORY: The book is set during World War II. Willie is an eight-year old boy living in London who is evacuated to the countryside. He is sent to live with an old man called Mr Tom who he is very scared of at first. Willie’s mother treats him very badly. Willie is very thin because his mother does not feed him properly and he cannot read or write because he has not been sent to school. We find out that his mother also beats him. Willie comes to realise that Mr Tom is very kind and gentle and the two become very close. Mr Tom grows to love Willie and treats him as though he is his own son. SETTING: The book is set during World War II when lots of children living in cities were sent to live in the countryside. The book is mainly set in a village in the British countryside called Little Weirwold. A section of the book is set in London, when Willie’s mother orders him to come back to London. CHARACTERS: The two main characters are Willie and Mr Tom. Mr Tom has a dog called Sammy. Willie is also very scared of Sammy to begin with but they grow to love each other too. There are lots of other characters who live in Little Weirwold and who help Willie such as Mrs Hatridge, his school teacher. MY OPINION: I really liked this book because I liked the friendship between Willie and Mr Tom. I also enjoyed how the writer describes some of the places. There are parts of the book that are very upsetting, though. The writing is easy to understand, although there are some difficult words. RATING: I would give this book five out of five stars! RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SIMILAR BOOKS: Other books about World War II are 'The Silver Sword' by Ian Serraillier and 'Carrie's War' by Nina Bawden. There is also 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' where the children are evacuated during World War II and then start on their adventures!
