I like this book because it is very entertaining and I like that they started of not knowing each other to being like family. I also like that it shows you can make the most of a bad situation. I have watched the film of goodnight mr.tom and have decided to read the book. I recommend watching the film but if you want to be left on a cliffhanger every night then DEFINITELY read the book. Curious Night at the Oliviers". Olivier Awards. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013 . Retrieved 29 April 2013.

William heals through his friendship with another recluse, Geoffrey Sanderton, a young man who lost a leg during the war and gives William private art lessons. After Geoffrey shares a photo of his own best friend, who is also dead, William begins to come to terms with Zach's death. Using Zach's bike, William teaches himself to ride. He realises that Zach will always be a part of him. William also grows closer to Carrie as they bond over Zach's memories. Some found themselves being expected to sing for their supper by helping on the farms they were sent too. Willie finally reaches the standard of reading and writing required to join his friends in Miss Hartridge's class. There, rather than struggling, he actually performs very well, much to everyone's surprise. Carrie, a top student in the class, requests to take the exam so she can attend high school. Willie Beech is evacuated to a tiny English village in the country just before the outbreak of World War II. A lonely and deprived child, he finds himself living with the reclusive, gruff old widower, Thomas Oakley. Although the two find it hard to adjust to their life together at first, they gradually develop a strong, mutual bond. Willie begins to enjoy life and make new friends in the village.Good Night, Mr. Tom study guide contains a biography of Michelle Magorian, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The second half of the book takes on serious issues of child abuse/neglect, the horrors and losses of war, and the grieving process. It's done in such a way that it wouldn't be overwhelming for a young adult (age 12 and up) to read about. The child reading this book will get to learn the difference between when an adult misbehaves and when an adult actually cares.

Magorian and Mister Tom won the annual once-or-lifetime Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, judged by a panel of British children's writers. [2] She was also a commended runner-up for the Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising the year's best English-language children's book published in the UK. [3] [a] It’s the apparently ‘heartwarming’ story of Willie Beech, who is sent from London to the countryside during the second world war. He goes from living with an overly religious, abusive mother to the gruff but kind Tom, and develops, or something. It doesn’t really matter. When I read a book like this one, I try to imagine what my eight or ten year-old self would have thought of it. I’m pretty sure she would have loved this and read it more than once. It is beautifully written, very sweet and uplifting, and inspires kindness and a view of the world as a place that will rescue you.William attends school and makes friends, including George, twins Carrie and Ginnie, and especially fellow evacuee Zach. William learns to read and write with the help of Tom and others, and shows talent in drawing, painting, and dramatics. As William is changed by Tom, so is Tom transformed by William. It is revealed that Tom lost his wife and baby son to scarlatina forty years ago. In September 1939, as Britain stands on the brink of the war, many young children from the cities are evacuated to the countryside to escape imminent German bombardment. William Beech, a boy from Deptford who is physically and emotionally abused by his mother, arrives at the village of Little Weirwold. Willie is timid, thin, and covered with bruises and sores. He also believes he is full of sin, thanks to his strict, religious, and mentally unstable mother. He wets the bed every day. I would recommend this books to children no younger than 9 as it is quite sad in parts and may disturb younger readers. A novel full of adventures in the countryside with friends, the spirit of helping each other in times of trouble, cozy nights next to the fire with books and dialogue with humour and warmth.

His happiness comes to an end when he is summoned to return to his mother in London and a life of abuse and cruelty. Willie's mother pours anger on him for his new found happiness and hatred for his being friends with Zach because Zach is Jewish. she has hidden a baby she has secretly given birth to. The novel has been adapted as a stage musical and as the film Goodnight Mister Tom (1998). In 2003, it was listed at #49 on the BBC's survey The Big Read. [4] The most recent theatrical adaptation, Goodnight Mister Tom, won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. [5] Plot [ edit ] Slowly but surely, with Mister Tom’s kindness and wisdom, and the help of the good people in the nearby community, Willie begins to flourish. He makes friends, and discovers what it’s like to have a normal childhood.One of my final List of Betterment books and a true classic. I read so many children's books these days and now realise how high the benchmark for real literature can and should be for children. Even through the horrors facing people in WWII London we are shown the true love that can happen from makeshift families like that made up of Mr. Tom and Willie. It's a book that changed my life as a child. It made me feel safe to know that even when we're at the worst places in our lives that there are still possibilities.

This is a story about how two people can change. It never fails to make me laugh, and cry, and feel lighter after I put it down. Since her death he had never wanted to touch anything that might remind him of her. Trust a strange boy to soften him up. The odd thing was that, after he had entered the paint shop, he had felt as if a heavy wave of sadness had suddenly been lifted from out of him.” my favourite character in this book is Ginny because she decided to take a test that girls didn't usually do. I think that this book is a fantastic story. It is really engaging to read. I really wanted to move on and carry on with the story.Good Night, Mr. Tom essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian. Willie Beech is an abused nine-year-old boy. "Mr. Tom" Oakley is a sixty-year-old man who was widowed 40 years ago and became the town recluse/curmudgeon. The two are thrown together when Willie arrives at Mr. Tom's cottage as one of the WWII evacuee children from London. They both blossom as they learn to love and encourage each other. Mr. Tom comes out of his self-imposed "hermithood" to participate in the community again, and Willie discovers his own talents while becoming healthy and robust. To avoid a gang of bullies during the summer holidays, 12-year-old Elsie eagerly accepts a role in a play at the local theatre. Normally I hate watching adaptations of my favourite books because they never ever EVER measure up.