The Railway Children Return

by Linda Chapman

A heart-warming novelisation of the sequel to one of the most beloved British family films of all time, The Railway Children. The Railway Children Return, out in cinemas July 2022, imagines E. Nesbit’s treasured story thirty-nine years on, bringing an enchanting new adventure to a new generation of fans.



The Railway Children Return tells the story of a group of children evacuated to a Yorkshire village during World War Two. There they meet Bobbie, (played by Jenny Agutter) now a grandmother, and her daughter, Annie (played by Sheridan Smith) and a runaway US soldier who needs their help.


With BAFTA-award winning director, Morgan Matthews, and BAFTA-award winning producer, Jemma Rodgers, at the helm, and a script penned by Emmy and BAFTA-award winning writer, Danny Brocklehurst, this film and its novelisation are bound to delight children and fans of the original film alike.

224 pages, Paperback

Published June 9, 2022

About the author

Linda Chapman was born in Liverpool in 1969. She had many different jobs before becoming a full-time writer in 1999 including working as a theatre stage manager, a dog trainer, a bookseller, a nanny, a teacher and a research assistant. She has written over 300 books for children, some under her own name, others under different names and she often collaborates with other authors. She is currently writing books with Julie Sykes and they are co-authors on the NYT bestselling Unicorn Academy series as well as Mermaid Academy, Forever Homes and Pocket Unicorns. Linda lives in Leicestershire with her husband, three children, two horses and three dogs. She has written many different series including: My Secret Unicorn, Star Friends, Best Friends Bakery, Stardust, Skating School and, most recently, Magic Keepers and Moonlight Riders.

Reviews

[Maryam ღ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really nice and heart warming. Though it wasn't as nice as the first part of railway children. Lily was really mature and also cared and loved her younger siblings just like Roberta in the first part. In this book Roberta is a grandmother to Thomas, who makes a quick bond with the three children, Lily, Pattie and Ted. Pattie is a cheeky little girl, reminding me of Phyllis, Roberta's sister and Ted, a very scared boy of six. Frightened of almost everything. I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Cordelia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The railway children return is a devastating and heart-breaking but also a funny and kind story by Linda Chapman. It explores the story of three evacuees; Lily who is 13 years old she is brave and bold and she dares to go on new adventures. Pattie, who is a sweet gentle girl but loves her sister Lily. Finally Ted who is a sacredly cat of owls because he thinks they will eat children. They move to the countryside of Oak worth because the second world war is going on in Manchester where they live and the Germans bomb up their houses so it is not safe for them to stay there any longer. In addition, their dad died one year ago. However, when they get to oak worth a kind, friendly, loving family take them in and they have a son called Thomas and this family has a mum called Annie who is a headmistress at the school they go to and a granny called Bobbie and Bobbie was in the last railway children movie but she was a child then. The author uses some strong sensory language to describe the feel of the countryside and the smell of the countryside. Also, Linda Chapman uses some good vocabulary in her writing too. But, one day the children find a lonely American solider called Abraham who is 14 years old in the tunnel of the railroad and he lies to them he says he is on a secret mission but he is actually a deserter he ran away from the army. So they help him get back home to his mother in New York. Chapman describes a turning point in her book when Lily and Abe think they are safe when they on the train to take Abe back to New York but then the army officers catch them and they are taken away by them.

[Insert Name Here · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people know the story of The Railway Children, I think, whether it's from the original novel or the various movies. There have been various attempts at sequels before, mostly in radio form. This book is the novelisation of the movie sequel, featuring Jenny Agutter, the most famous Bobbie, as an adult Bobbie. The main plot has to do with evacuees coming to live with Bobbie, her daughter and grandson towards the end of World War 2.

The Railway Children had to be set at a railway. There's no way the plot would have worked without it. The sequel is an exciting adventure that touches on a lot of things I didn't even realise were issues at the time...but it could be set anywhere. The railway barely features, apart from one sequence calling back to a famous part of the original, and even that could have been set on a road instead. Even the title is a little misleading - Bobbie's the only one who appears, and we never hear anything about Phil and where she is nowadays, although we do hear about Peter.

I enjoyed the story very much; I'm looking forward to seeing the movie, as I think it'll be worth viewing (depending on the quality of the child actors, but that's always true in this kind of movie.) It's exciting and heartfelt and children will be caught up in it; it could be a great class novel, as there are several things that could be discussed in groups. However I do think it has little to nothing to do with the original story. But that's just my opinion.

[Gill Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an enjoyable, simple read that had some nice callbacks to the original but would be just as easy to pick up and read if you hadn’t read the original.

I’m sure younger people will enjoy it.

[Rach Stanley]

Really enjoyed this watched the railway children film as a child , this was just as good . It's amazing to think about the resilience that the children showed in the end It's amazing what can be achieved if a whole village gets behind it

[Danielle Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely heart warming read.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

[Bookworm-hev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was cute story enjoyed book one so was nice to read prequel to it

[Rhian]

A quick read to check content before my son watches the film with school.

[Janette Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book some for the story is very similar to the railway children, the film