A Summer in the South

A summer in the South by James Marshall is a brilliant book! I think it has enough suspence in the beginning to keep you hooked! I admire Mr. Marshall's type of writing because it lets you view the different types of perspectives in the story. Although the story has animals in it, It definitely keeps you more hooked than a regular mystery story with REAL people. If you decided to read this book, GREAT CHOICE!

When I rented this book form the library I had no idea how brilliant it would be! It got me hooked on mystery stories and ever since Ive read all of the Nancy Drew series. Why did it get me hooked? Its amazing illustrations, its realistic (althought animal) characters. I took it on holiday with me and ended up reading it at least 20 times! Eleno Owl is brilliant and I especially love the descriptions of Maxine the cook, cleaner and just about everything else at the small hotel setting for this book!

Gosh, what would the world be like without James Marshall? I shudder violently to think of it! Oh my, where TO begin? This is a wonderful way to introduce children to mystery stories---with an obvious plotline and easy character deduction. A mystery story for kids, set at the beach in the summertime, with Eleanor Owl and her bud, Mr Paws on vacation----or are they? The story is hilarious, with the characters as the odious flasher Foster Pig, the typical hypochondriac in the story is "Don Coyote," and silly squirrel twins. The Cootie family really IS a cootie family! "Fennimore Cootie" (tee hee) to be precise! Ah, and don't forget the Ladies String Quartet, consisting of large lady baboons.....this book is a must for any kid who will sit still long enough to make it through 27 short (whew!) chapters---but if they are dying of curiousity and they are hooked on the characters, you won't be able to put it down!

I loved this book! It was extremely funny, and the pictures add to it. I loved all the characters and the mystery. I give it five stars, definitely!

Like Winnie the Pooh, A Summer in the South is not merely a children's novel. It is instead a wonderful combination of farce and realism, just simple enough to engage a child, just witty enough to amuse an adult. Why this book went out of print, I will never understand. Perhaps because it was never made into a movie...