The Roundhill

by Dick King-Smith, Siân Bailey (Illustrator)

From the author of The Gallant Pig comes a charming ghost story about a lonely boy who meets the real Alice in Wonderland--two years after she died!

She was an intruder to him at first. After all, the Roundhill is Evan's secret place--the spot he escapes to on school holidays. He doesn't want to share it with a strange girl in such old-fashioned clothes. But Alice has an intriguing way of knowing things--about him, about his house--that he has never told her. Odder still is that the more she talks about herself, the more mysterious she becomes. And how did she get through that locked door? At last Alice leads Evan to a special book and an incredible discovery--and the Roundhill was at the heart of the mystery all along.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Ghosts, Childrens, Historical Fiction, Juvenile, Fantasy

84 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dick King-Smith was born and raised in Gloucestershire, England, surrounded by pet animals. After twenty years as a farmer, he turned to teaching and then to writing children's books.

Dick writes mostly about animals: farmyard fantasy, as he likes to call it, often about pigs, his special favorites. He enjoys writing for children, meeting the children who read his books, and knowing that they get enjoyment from what he does.

Among his well-loved books is Babe, The Gallant Pig, which was recently made into a major motion picture, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Dick lived with his wife in a small 17th-century cottage, about three miles from the house where he was born.

Reviews

[Sara XuHerondale · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite book when I was in elementary school a few years back. Really easy and short book with really simple plot, conversations and interesting characters. Just like a children's book should be. For me now, it's probably "too easy" now that I'm older but I still love it since it was my favorite once. I highly recommend it to kids in between 8 and 13 years

[Alice Roundhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd concept/ reference to Alice in Wonderland but! I was giddy to read a book with my full name in it (gifted to me by my aunt for that very reason!) Very sweet ❤️

[booklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Dick King-Smith’s last books, The Roundhill is a quaint yet mysterious story about a fourteen year old boy, Evan, who makes an unusual friendship. My daughters grew up on King-Smith’s stories, especially the Sophie series (Sophie Hits Six, Sophie Is Seven) which came out just ahead of their ages and described a little tomboy who loves animals and wanted to be a lady farmer. In this story, ‘the roundhill’ is the setting as well as Evan’s secret place; nostalgic to anyone who had his/her own special place as a child.

The Roundhill is not an exciting read and it isn’t meant to be, but my guess is it’s more than a little autobiographical. It reflects the quieter pace of life before sound-byte technology; the little boy thoughts are from that distant era. We get to join in his imagination, day-dreaming or ... something else? A charming and enjoyable read. Thanks again Mr. King-Smith!

Written for young people, but best appreciated (I think) by their elders!

[Simran Vijayakumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am honestly so surprised at how much I enjoyed this little children's book. It had been sitting in my bookshelf since perhaps I was 10 but I never thought to look at it until this week. In 84 pages, King-Smith introduced a lovely narrative of two characters (main) and how one girl who loved a place so much she returns after death meets a young boy who falls in love with the same place. The way the 'Roundhill' is described is beyond it's beauty or its location, it's an ethereal kind of longing which I felt was described so completely. The little peculiarities that Evan and Alice have are also a nice and rewarding touch to the story that it still consumable within a sitting but adds a little more value to the book. Overall, incredibly happy I finally decided to pick up this little book and I'm glad it kept me company over a couple of tiring days.

[Dayna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting so much out of this little book, and I ended up being so disappointed. Maybe I missed the point. Maybe an eight-year-old would love it. The premise is so wonderful, an English boy in the 1930s meets a little girl just like Alice from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland." King-Smith could have done so much with that, and it just fell flat! Also, I was interested to see where he went with the whole atheism thing, and I started out thinking that it was fascinating how the Roundhill is kind of the boy's substitute for a religion ... the hill is his one constant ... but that ended up nowhere too. In my opinion. Maybe I'm not giving it/him enough credit. It is a children's book afterall. However, I know that if I had read this book at the recommended age of 9-12 I would have hated it, especially at 12. As an adult I can kind of appreciate it, a little. For the theme anyway. I would recommend it for a slightly younger child, like an eight-year-old, or maybe even reading it aloud with younger children that like "Alice in Wonderland" in general, and that might be interested in learning about the real Alice ... it really cannot stand on it's own. It's more of a companion to Lewis Carroll's "Alice" stories.

[JJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

To Evan, the Roundhill is a magic place that belongs to him alone. Then one summer he meets someone else there - a girl who loves the Roundhill as her much as he does. Her name is Alice, and the more Evan learns about her, the more mysterious she becomes...

Set between two world wars, this is a charming and nostalgic ghost story.

[Amy Dance · Rating 1 out of 5]

very disappointing. at least it was short.

[Zorana Mitrović · Rating 1 out of 5]

Drpila sam negde ovu knjigu još odavno, delovala mi simpatično, rekoh možda bude ok pričica, al' ništa posebno, kapiram da bi nekom detetu možda bila ok pošto i jeste knjiga za decu.

Uglavnom, priča o četrnaestogodišnjem Kevinu koji na svom omiljenom mestu Brežuljku počinje da sreće neobičnu devojčicu Alisu koja je zapravo duh Alise iz zemlje čuda Luisa Kerola.

[Sara G · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good little book for your 10yo to read right after they finish reading Alice in Wonderland (or at least watching the Disney animated movie). Can't really find fault with it. It's exactly what it claims to be.

[Matthew Fleming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight and simple, but with a lovely ending. A decent children's story, but no The Godhanger.

[Heather Ummel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable quick read. More for older kids than King-Smith’s usual younger reader audience. I would suggest this for middle schoolers that have read Alice in Wonderland.

[Wednesday · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple little ghost story about a teenage boy, a special place and a well known character from children's literature.

A quick read and a good introductory ghost story for kids.

[Sriman Narayanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book i read is the roundhill..
A nice book with slow moving story line with a Little twist ..

[KerryT · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an ok book. A bit of fantasy but I like how he went back as an old man with his granddaughter.

[Gaby Meares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely novella about the ghost of Alice!

[Aisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread after many years for the nostalgia!

Evan makes a new friend who is strangely old fashioned in speech and dress.. who is she?

[chloe the bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

i accidentally deleted my review of this because i thought i was just removing a tag from it *cries*
loved this story it was totally mystical. wouldn't read again tho the boy was a little shit