Osprey Island

by Anne Lindbergh Feydy, Maggie Kaufman Smith (Illustrator)

A brother and sister in Paris and their cousin in Vermont discover magic pictures that bring them together on an island full of adventures.

164 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1974

Reviews

[Laurie]

Osprey Island is similar in style and plot to some of my ultra-favorites, like Gone-Away Lake, and suffered because of that. It has some delightful scenes, particularly on the island, but I disliked two things: the unkindness of the main characters (a brother, sister, and their cousin) to each other (they start calling names on the second page and continue throughout the book, unlike Julian and Portia or the Melendys) and their carelessness with the magic. Really, I just wanted to shake them at times.

Author clarification: the book says Anne Lindbergh Feydy. Feydy was Anne Spencer Lindbergh's first husband, and it appears that her other books were published under Anne Spencer Lindbergh. That's how she appears in Goodreads, and I linked to her obituary in her author profile. (She is Anne Morrow Lindbergh's daughter.)

[Taylor E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! My mom had told me that I should read it but I wasn't sure at first. Then, I got into it and it is now on my small list of best books I've read! I really hope that more people read it and don't just skip by it because it's older! Personally, I think that it's better being set in an older setting.

[Ronnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy 5 when I first read it in the 70s, back when I seemingly couldn't find enough books about islands. Certain scenes from it had stayed with me for more than 40 years, so it was a special treat to receive it as a gift and get to revisit Carmar-Ogali-Retne yesterday. Reading it again, I could still feel some of the magic my 8- or 9-year-old self experienced back then, and I could see why it had made an impression. I was struck this time, though, by the sometimes odd dynamics between the siblings and cousins--they call each other stupid a lot, for example--and the girls and boy alike are prone to histrionics, and I'm pretty sure none of that would have registered with me back then. It's a small thing, but it did make me recall when my own daughter, now a high school senior, came home from either kindergarten or first grade saying that one of her classmates had gotten in trouble that day for saying the "s"-word (which turned out to be "stupid"). Different times, I guess. On the other hand, the Osprey Island children do have uncommonly good relationships with their parents, and the mutual respect shown in the two traditional nuclear families is solid and clear; I'm pretty sure that's something I would have found enviable back then. Anyway, thank you, Denise, for tracking this down based solely on the parts I remembered--it was, for sure, a 5-star gift, and I enjoyed the time travel!

First lines:
"It was their last day together and what were they doing? Picking beans!"

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember much about this book except that I liked it and it was about cousins who created a name for their island out of their own names: Carmarogiliretne.

[Saresse Fortman]

Loved it as a kid, recently tracked down a copy and am looking forward to re-reading it!