The Narrow Passage

by Oliver Butterworth, Eric Blegvad (Illustrator)

Two boys on an expedition in southern France decide to protect the prehistoric cave they discover from desecration and public scrutiny.

166 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1973

About the author

Butterworth was born in Hartford, Connecticut and spent much of his life as a teacher, teaching at Kent School in Kent, Connecticut from 1937 to 1947 and Junior School in West Hartford, Connecticut from 1947 to 1949. Additionally, beginning in 1947, he taught English at Hartford College for Women in Hartford, Connecticut until the late 1980s.

Butterworth was an author of many children's books, most of which took place in the New England area of the United States in which he was born and raised.

His most popular book was The Enormous Egg, the fanciful story of farmboy Nate Twitchell who raises a dinosaur (a Triceratops named "Uncle Beazley") that hatches from a hen's egg in 1950s New England.

Butterworth died of cancer in West Hartford, aged 75.

Reviews

[Julie P · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this sequel to _The Enormous Egg_, Nate Twitchell travels to France with an expedition to find evidence of prehistoric man in caves. Nate and a French boy he befriends are intent on making their own discovery and becoming famous like the boys who discovered the Lascaux cave drawings. What they find is something even more unique, yet they are torn between becoming famous for this find, and protecting the secret within the passage.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

B. fiction, juvenile fiction, upper elementary, boys find cave paintings in France; from stash, keep

[JKR · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t even know this sequel to The Enormous Egg existed until a few days ago. It’s a quick and easy read, but requires a suspension of disbelief even larger than The Enormous Egg.