Secret Stories 1 The Secret Island

I originally had gotten this book from my Grandpa as it was one of his favorites. I instantly fell in love with the story line and the kids in it. It was like I was with them on their adventures, to this day it still is an all time favorite of mine and I read it every summer. I sadly lost my original copy when loaning it to someone

I volunteer at the local elementary school reading to various grades. For the last three years I have read this book to the third grade students. They have been thrilled with this story as I was sixty years ago when I read it. At the end of the story I give a quiz about the story and the child with the highest score wins a copy of the book. I believe it is one of the highlights of their year.

This is the first book in the Secret series and the most exciting one of them. It's about four children who run away from home. They set sail to an island nearby to hide out. Even bringing along with them a cow and some chickens. What makes this book so fun to read is how they were able to survive on this island. There are descriptions of caves with secret entrances, wild berries to pluck and eat, a club house made completely from interwoven willow trees, cooking and eating at a campsite, hiding from the grownups that are looking for them to drag them back to their mean aunt and uncle. A dreamy whole summer until it starts getting cold. The story does end with the desired happily every after and the promise of more adventures to come.

I started reading my 7 year old daughter's books, primarily to stimulate our conversations, and found myself very keen to keep on reading this particular story late into the night! Having read many of her Enid Blyton books now (which have almost all been very good), this remains the best so far. In brief, 3 children find themselves in the care of their Aunt and Uncle when their parents go missing on a long flight in a small plane. The Aunt and Uncle start out quite nice, until everyone starts to believe that the children's parents have died. Their Aunt and Uncle start to treat them so badly, that they want to run away, but are scared about what might happen when they eventually have to return. An older child they are friends with helps them to run away to a secret island in the middle of the lake, to start a new life all by themselves. This tale is exciting, funny and educational. The young run-aways learn how very hard it is to make their own living, the importance of work and helping each other, and how careful they have to be with food and clothing. Each week on their secret island brings new challenges and adventures. The book certainly has momentum, and rises to a great climax, with a satisfying little twist at the end.

This was the first book I ever read entirely on my own, and I'm happy to say it led to a lengthy affair with the written word. It remains, to this day, one of my favourite books.Its a story of 3 siblings who's parents have died, and they have been sent to live with their abusive aunt and uncle. Their only solace is a local boy who has even less than they have in life. The 4 of them plot and execute their escape. Its an excelent tale of adventure, with a great ending, and is perfect reading for someone just starting out. The story is set in england in the early to mid 20th century (It was written around then as well) but this doesn't alienate the reader. I first read it in the mid 1980s and found I could completely relate to the heros of this story.I highly recomend it to get your kids away from the boob tube and start them reading. It worked for me, and I have the attention span of your average gnat.