The Last Man Alive,: A Story for Children from the Age of Seven to Seventy

It's true, this book is a little gruesome at times. However, I remember my parents reading it to me when I was a kid. And I didn't see it as gruesome, it was just outrageously exciting. It's one of the few books which really stand out from my childhood - in a positive way. I would definitely read this to my kids, or let them read it. And to this day I still enjoy reading it myself. I highly recommend it.

This is a fun book for kids ages 10-12, and also for their parents, born out of a British schoolmaster's storytelling hour for his students. In 1938 or thereabouts, famous British school director A.S. Neill asked his young pupils at Summerhill School for their suggestions for a story, and then weaved this tale for them. Neill aimed to produce a story with no morals, where the kids get to work out their aggressions and prove themselves experts at handling guns, gorillas, gangsters, robots, battleships and airships...and adults get a little humor aimed at their own taste. I adored this story when I was in elementary school, and read it over and over. I recently tried reading a chapter a night out loud to my child, and to my great surprise he enjoyed the tale almost as much as I did, despite the rather dated British slang from the 1930's, and allusions to such exotic items as Mussolini, Chicago gangsters, Labor Leaders, Colonel Blimp, Bolshies, etc. This book was created for children with their input, and it works. Neill sneaked a lot of humorous references in for his more adult readers, so I recommend it for adults and teens as well particularly those with a bit of anglophilia in their psyche. Give it a shot! You can download the book with no charge on the Tripod website.

I just finished reading my 35 year old copy of "The Last Man Alive' to my 8 year old grandson and was heartened by the fact that the book is just as alive today as when I read it to my 5th and 6th grade students back in 1972. The book is based on a weekly story telling session that Neill held for his students at Summerhill School in England and the gripping feature lies in the fact that the story is made up of characters Neill selected from the students themselves and he offers that any reader adapt that practice to their reading. As I poured over the book I noticed my own notes from 35 years ago with fond memories of names not yet forgotten, but had to adapt it to include my grandson and names of people in his world. Needless to say, he was fascinated with the story and more tickled each time his name was featured. It is a story of intrigue, adventure, violence (that children can handle) and humor. All of the ingredients to delight any child.

This is no "traditional" childrens book, but a very funny and interesting story, told to children as a bedtime story in installments, written down as a book. The real cool thing is the story has some subtle humor in there, which grown ups can understand best. I read this book when I was 8 y. o. I still enjoy reading it now :-)

The last man alive is a great book.