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Robin
91 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
15 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Storr
165 books30 followersAuthor Catherine Storr was educated at St. Paul's Girls' School and went on to study English at Newnham College, Cambridge. She then went to medical school and worked part-time as a Senior Medical Officer in the Department of Psychological Medicine of the Middlesex Hospital from 1950 to 1963.
Her first book was published in 1940, but was not successful. It was not until the 1950s that her books became popular. She wrote mostly children's books as well as books for adults, plays, short stories, and adapted one of her novels into an opera libretto. She published more than 30 children's books, but is best known for Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf and Marianne Dreams, which was made into a television series and a film.
Her first book was published in 1940, but was not successful. It was not until the 1950s that her books became popular. She wrote mostly children's books as well as books for adults, plays, short stories, and adapted one of her novels into an opera libretto. She published more than 30 children's books, but is best known for Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf and Marianne Dreams, which was made into a television series and a film.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 26, 2019
Peggy Fortnum's cover and illustrations are beautiful, they really make this book with their clever mix of messy spontaneity and carefully measured observation.
Robin is the youngest sibling of three children living on the Cornish coast. His older brother and sister are continually making him feel small and ridiculing his love of magic and make believe. I don't think I would want to read this to a young child who was sensitive to older children's perception of themselves. Robin is constantly called a baby by his older siblings and mocked for his belief in magic.
I felt frustrated Robin's mother didn't step in and tell his siblings not to be so horrible and explain to them that if they really were so grown up they wouldn't need to point out Robin was a 'baby ' to make themselves feel good by making him feel small. I had to suspend belief that Robin's mother would allow Robin to go to a Cornish beach alone being a non swimmer and I'm guessing about 6yrs old. But I suppose this was from an era where water safety was not taken so seriously.
Robin longs to find magic in the everyday, his wish comes true or he finds something to pin his beliefs upon, either way the story progresses in a subtle way in which the adult can see it as magic happening or can see the child's beliefs justified in events.
This was a nice short story, you can tell the author had a huge appreciation of nature and children playing and exploring in a natural environment. I would highly recommend this to 6 to 10 yr old boys, especially those with a connection to beaches/Cornwall.
Robin is the youngest sibling of three children living on the Cornish coast. His older brother and sister are continually making him feel small and ridiculing his love of magic and make believe. I don't think I would want to read this to a young child who was sensitive to older children's perception of themselves. Robin is constantly called a baby by his older siblings and mocked for his belief in magic.
I felt frustrated Robin's mother didn't step in and tell his siblings not to be so horrible and explain to them that if they really were so grown up they wouldn't need to point out Robin was a 'baby ' to make themselves feel good by making him feel small. I had to suspend belief that Robin's mother would allow Robin to go to a Cornish beach alone being a non swimmer and I'm guessing about 6yrs old. But I suppose this was from an era where water safety was not taken so seriously.
Robin longs to find magic in the everyday, his wish comes true or he finds something to pin his beliefs upon, either way the story progresses in a subtle way in which the adult can see it as magic happening or can see the child's beliefs justified in events.
This was a nice short story, you can tell the author had a huge appreciation of nature and children playing and exploring in a natural environment. I would highly recommend this to 6 to 10 yr old boys, especially those with a connection to beaches/Cornwall.
December 6, 2019
Robin in the youngest in the family and at an age where he still wishes to believe in magic yet also still wants the acknowledgement and respect that comes with being 'older'. Constantly mocked by his older brother and sister, it takes a special event on the sea-front to change Robin's luck.
I thought this was a sweet early reader from Storr. Mother was found wanting in terms of parenting skills but I did take some secretive joy in the fact that Robin could play amongst the rock pools and sea without supervision. I wondered whether she was making a statement about safety or whether she was just simply enjoying the telling of a story. Whatever the case, there is always a sense of danger lurking in Storr's work that I quite like.
I thought this was a sweet early reader from Storr. Mother was found wanting in terms of parenting skills but I did take some secretive joy in the fact that Robin could play amongst the rock pools and sea without supervision. I wondered whether she was making a statement about safety or whether she was just simply enjoying the telling of a story. Whatever the case, there is always a sense of danger lurking in Storr's work that I quite like.
November 27, 2020
Robin is the youngest in the family and hates it. His older brother and sister have done everything and grown out of everything before he even gets there. So Robin goes in search of some kind of magic to make him stand out. After searching in a number of ordinary household items, Robin one day finds a conch shell on the beach that fits into his palm as if it had been made for him. When he puts it to his ear, he discovers that he can listen to the ocean, and the ocean can listen back.
.
So skilfully told you can almost hear the ocean through the words, as if holding a conch to your ear, and with beautifully scratchy sparse illustrations, Robin is a meditation on the magic that comes with a communion with nature. Robin is able to accomplish all sorts of feats from practical (saving a boat from a storm) to whimsical (calling upon seals to appear during a visit from his grandmother), all the while learning that being the youngest doesn’t make you any less special.
https://www.instagram.com/the.paperho...
.
So skilfully told you can almost hear the ocean through the words, as if holding a conch to your ear, and with beautifully scratchy sparse illustrations, Robin is a meditation on the magic that comes with a communion with nature. Robin is able to accomplish all sorts of feats from practical (saving a boat from a storm) to whimsical (calling upon seals to appear during a visit from his grandmother), all the while learning that being the youngest doesn’t make you any less special.
https://www.instagram.com/the.paperho...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews