The Shades

by Betty Brock, Victoria de Larrea (Illustrator)

After Hollis washes his eyes in the dolphin fountain, he is able to see a special world whose inhabitants are the shadows of those people that have entered the garden of the house he is visiting.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction, Classics, Ghosts

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Betty Carter Brock published two children's book - No Flying in the House (1970) and The Shades (1971).

She travelled throughout Japan and studied Japanese culture and history. She was volunteer librarian for the Japan-America Society of Washington, and donated her own 1,500-volume Japanese book collection to Georgetown University in 2001.

She was also a founding member of the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society and a member of the Children's Book Guild of Washington.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archiv...

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet and whimsical low fantasy novel that should never have gone out of print. The water from a dolphin statue in a garden allows eight year-old Hollis to see and interact with a family of shadows. This is a small scale fantasy, not epic or grand. The characters are well drawn and plausible. The writing is concise and easy to read, but never forced or condescending. I love these sorts of fantasy stories - extraordinary things happening to ordinary people. This is one I highly recommend.

[Juliann · Rating 5 out of 5]

My most favorite book...ever. I even distinctly remember the day I bought it in Womrath's Bookstore in Hackensack as a new release...funny how some memories just stick. Both boys have laid claim to my copy... Should be an interesting reading of the will :0)

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my, I just loved this book, it's magical, fantasy and frienship. A little boys parents have to go out of the country and he has to stay with his mother's best friend in a scary house that is to him dark and mysterious.

This boy is 8 yrs old and is adventureous and full of energy and gets into all kinds of stuff and explores every little nook and cranny of the place. There in the garden is a fountain and has a fish that has water flowing from his mouth so the boy climbs into the fountain and submerges his face into the water and when he does the shadows in the garden come to life.

Now he has opened up a whole new world that the adults don't see and it's his secret but there is an evil darkness lurking in the garden and it's threatening the shadows and their very lifes. It's now up to him to save them. This book will make you wonder if children actually have imaginary friends or if it's a reality that only they can see. I like this story and think it's a great book for children and will open up their imagination and help them explore and see things in a different light.

[J. Boo]

Out of print, remembered fondly by large cohort of older people, and thus wildly expensive.

Maybe I'll get lucky in a thrift store.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think if I'd have read this when I was seven or eight, I might have thought it was wonderfully magical instead of just thinking 'shadow people weirdness in a beautiful garden.' Sigh.

[Jileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book that a teacher read to me when I was younger. It is out of print and therefore pretty hard to find. Thank goodness for Amazon.com! I finished reading it to my boys and they really enjoyed it. It's always fun to consider your shadow and this book adds a whole new dimension (literally) to that.

I enjoyed the good vs. bad element at the end but I liked the author's kid-gentle touch to it. I liked the idea that there are temptations around us, calling to us, sometimes right in our midst, but we don't have to pursue them or even recognize them.

A great quote from the book...

"Papa says the rules are made to protect us. We can choose whether to obey them or not, but if we choose not to there is always trouble ahead."

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another charming story I read in childhood that is very difficult to find now. I always wanted to read it to my own children but could never get hold of a copy.
UPDATE 5/2/10: I just found a paperback copy on Amazon. Guess how much? $2,475!!

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brocks's No Flying in the House is one of my favorite children's books. This is also good, just not quite as magical or memorable. A little boy goes to stay with his aunt and discovers shadow people living in the garden. Out of print but KCLS still has.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a childhood favorite that was long lost but fondly remembered. It's still just as good as I thought, even some 15 years later.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine a magical garden, where the shadows of people and things who have visited remain and live unseen by the living world. This is the premise of the shades by Betty Brock. Eight year old Hollis discovers this hidden world when he washes his eyes in the water of the magical dolphin fountain situated in the large enclosed garden of his aunt Emily‘s estate called The Shadows. Among the mysteries of the garden is the strange singing he hears that his new friends refrain from talking about. He befriends the shadow people, and helps to save them from a fate of going over the wall and from never being able to return. I thought this was a wonderful imaginative story and wished I had found this when I was younger. I think I would have spent many a day pretending that shadow people were real in my own garden.

[Van Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a favorite book from my wife's childhood, so she recommended it to me. This is either a very rare book, or it is a book that people really like; maybe both since used copies are selling for $70 and up. For a children's story, it was very good. It is very imaginative with a decent plot. I think children eight and up would enjoy this book.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just really loved this as a child in the 70s and finally discovered the title. Alas it's $300 on Amazon. Gimme a break. Is anybody really going to pay that?! Likely as an adult, I'd only give it 4 stars but would sure love to read it again. Why in the world is this out of print? It's insane. Everything is in print.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child, and I can see why. Even as an adult I found its clever and imaginative premise to be intriguing.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming, but it doesn’t flow as well as Betty Brock’s other book, “No Flying in the House.”

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

C+. fiction, children's fiction, grades3-5, from stash, discard

[David Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of a handful of books I'd read in elementary school from a book service, and I've never forgotten it. It was a wonderful introduction to fantasy.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

a childhood favorite

[Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cute story. I wish I would have read this as a kid!!

[Liz Pitcher]

It was fun to think about my shadow having a life of it's own. I thought the ending was clever and kid friendly.

[BookSearching]

I ordered this book from OwlBooks from Amazon, but after a couple months of nothing showing up, contacted them. They had cancelled order and said email went to *their* spam folder.

I'd like to read this to my kid. What I don't want to do is pay over $100 to do it.

Know of any alternatives - such as one of the companies that prints a book when you order it or even some online company that really HAS the book?

There are several claiming book, but once singed up, of course they do not have it.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second grade teacher read this to us and I was wowed. Have 1 copy of this out-of-print treasure. If you find one, snatch it up.

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite childhood books ever!