I never got the chance to read Goodnight Mister Tom as a child but remember it being on television. When this edition was released it was lovely to have the chance to finally read it, even if it did make me cry! The author captures the emotions of those affected by wartime evacuation perfectly and deservedly has a place in the hearts of children and adults alike.

⭐️ 4.5 ⭐️
Rounded up to 5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Goodnight Mister Tom, is a wonderful read. I love the characters, especially Tom and William, and the way their relationship slowly develops throughout the book.

Beautifully written, Magorian perfectly captures the time, place, and atmosphere of the era with her detailed descriptions, allowing me to clearly visualise everything in my mind’s eye.

It’s a timeless classic that never fails to bring a tear to my eye and a smile to my face.

Brilliant!

This is such a beautiful book. Considering this is a children’s book, it is quite hard hitting in places.
It is such a page turner.

With thanks to Netgalley and the author


First of all I can't believe that Goodnight Mr.Tom is 40 years old...(makes me feel old). I first read this book as a teenager and loved it straight away.

Going back to the book almost 30 later, it is still beloved book, that still makes me cry. Here's to another 40 years of this brilliant book.

You can not beat a classic. I remember enjoying this one as a child and was very excited to read it as an adult. The wave of nostalgia that came over me whilst reading was lovely and brought back lots of happy memories of enjoying books in my childhood.

This is a classic that can be enjoyed by all the family, through the generations for years to come.

An amazing book. Well written and flows very well. My first by this author but looking forward to reading more of her works. The added story and songs at the end of the book was a great extra.

I'm sure I read this as a child, maybe during school. But sadly I didn't remember the story. So I'm glad I read it here.
I felt for Willie. He was raised by his abusive mother, which in turn made him a timid boy afraid.
But after he moved to live with Tom Oakley he finally got a good role model, friends with Zach,George, Carrie and Ginny. He started to grow into his own person and not so timid anymore.
But then his mother summons him and the abusive starts again. This broke my heart. She is full of hate and Willie deserved better.
This is a heartbreaking story of friends and family. Trying to survive the war and recovering from an abusive upbringing.

Why why why why why have I never read this book? I’m old, I should have, it’s always been around. I know exactly why…:it’s always felt like a “boys book”, refugee gets sent to live work Mister Tom…..blah blah……not for childhood me.

I dragged myself into this book because it was sitting on my tbr, right at the bottom and it’s a small book, and it was getting on my nerves seeing it.

IT IS FANTASTIC. I have ruined my life not knowing of this joy. What an amazing book. I’ve been a fool!!

My thanks to Netgalley!

This book is obviously a classic and I must be one of the few people who didn't read it as a child. I haven't even seen the film.
I found the story of Tom and Willie's friendship incredibly moving. It's a beautiful story and really appreciate the ARC.

A classic! Great story, great writing. I would definitely recommend for all ages. Such a good story to return to. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love this book with my heart and soul. I watched a TV show of it when I was much younger and read the book as soon as I watched the show. And I fell in love with it. One of the most beautiful and moving war stories.

This is one of the best historical fiction books I’ve ever read – across those intended for adults and for children. The depth of Goodnight Mister Tom spreads beyond all ages. On the surface, it’s a nice story which is a lesson on history, plus a warm tale, for children. Dig deeper and you will find complex relationships, a darker plot, and a stark contrast between different types of humanity, which will capture the attention of adults.

What we often forget about the world is that it offers different kinds of love. We concentrate on the love between a married couple or a parent and child. Goodnight Mister Tom highlights love formed through friendships, through unbreakable bonus formed by people who don’t share the same DNA.

This book made me laugh and cry, smile and frown. I would have loved the story as a child, but I’m glad it didn’t pass me on on my adult years, too.

This was a lovely story set during WW2 about the story of a young boy who is evacuated to the country and is taken in by Tom Oakley (Mister Tom). It is very moving in places but ultimately uplifting and heartwarming. A beautiful book that is perfect for children age 10 plus.
With thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Omg......... this book was amazing I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed I was hooked from the very first page. I found it full of twists and turns threw out and it kept me on the edge of my seat all the way threw  I would defiantly recommend this book if you like a good book to keep you reading threw the night hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My heart could burst right now for the love and adoration I have for this book right now.

I am so happy I finished up 2021 with this particular book.

I have just purchased a copy of the 40th anniversary edition in print format to cherish forever more. It features additional bonus content and its just delightful to read and enjoy.

My last book of the year and I could not have finished with a better book. Read this book for its:
✔Strong character development
✔Historical fiction plot and setting
✔The emotive pull on your heart ❤
✔Exquisite writing with it's timeless appeal making it a Children's classic for everyone.

Here's to celebrating this book for another 40 years and beyond. 🎊

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse children's UK for my review copy in return for my honest review.

One of my favourite books. A very emotional read about a young boy, Willie Beech, who is evacuated from his deprived home in London to a rural village. Tom Oakley is initially reluctant to care for Willie but they gradually form a close bond. This anniversary edition with its additional short story and lyrics is a joy to read. Thank you to Michelle Magorian, NetGalley and Puffin books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of my all time favourite reads. I have read this several times both as a child and an adult and always enjoyed it. I recently took great pleasure in reading this to my 10 year old son who is now also reading this at school. A true classic that everyone should read.

40th anniversary edition of a book I adored as a child, and it hadn’t been out yet a decade when I first read it 😍 the magic of this story for me has only increased with my age, such a beautiful story a part of history and life in the war that needs to be recorded, this doesn’t shy away from the truth or the raw tragedy, but ultimately such a heartwarming tale (just wish it had been so for all the evacuee children) A wonderful story that records an important moment in history and a book that has held up well as still reads as fresh as when I first read it.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This one has been a firm favourite from the first time I read it back in the late 1990s.  One of my mother's rules was that I was not to be bought any books which I had already read, a stipulation which made a great deal of sense given how quickly I went through books but it did mean that it could be suddenly very distressing to really fall in love with a book that I'd checked out from the library since I knew that we could only be together for a short time.  Goodnight Mister Tom was the worst case of all and I dealt with only by checking it out six times during Year 6 alone.  At the end of Year Seven I won the English prize of a fairly generous book voucher and my mother finally relented and allowed me to get my own copy to my great relief.  This is a true classic of children's fiction, full of tenderness, love and affection without ever quite veering into the saccharine.  Rereading it as an adult, I love it as much as ever.  It has always irritated me when people denigrate children's fiction as somehow 'lesser' than work written for adults; literature is literature and Goodnight Mister Tom can be enjoyed by all ages.

The novel opens with a flustered member of the Women's Voluntary Service dropping off a pale and nervous boy with the stern Tom Oakley.  Willie Beech is scared to be away from home and is at first terrified of this 'towering giant' who has a 'voice like thunder', he has been brought up to know that he is a wicked boy and he is sure that Mister Tom will see that soon enough.  Almost from the very first though, it is clear that Tom is not as harsh as he appears; he promises to make Willie a low peg on the coat rag and makes sure that he has a scarf on when he sends the child out to look around outside.  Tom chooses not to comment when he sees the bruises on Willie's legs but we know that he has thoughts of his own about Willie's mother from very early on.


It can be such a cliché for an irritable character to have to take on a child against their will and then for the child to bring out their new guardian's inner heart of gold.  Examples include Heidi, Overboard!, Silas Marner - the point is that it is something of a trope.  Here though it is done with incredible sensitivity; Tom Oakley has never been anything other than a loving man but he has existed in a state of grief for all these years with nobody to stir him out of it.  Willie's unseen mother has allowed him to be evacuated only on the understanding that her son will be billeted next to a church.  She has sent him off with little more than a toothbrush, a belt and a Bible; her letter to Tom says that Willie is 'full of sin' and is to be beaten when he is bad.  She has taught her child a model of Christianity which is full of vengeance, where the vicar is a man to be feared, Bible stories are learnt by rote without understanding and nothing is to be questioned.  By contrast, Tom's theology is one of grace; he tells Willie stories from the Bible in his own words, he makes no remark on Willie's constant bed-wetting other than to clean him up, he goes out and buys Willie new clothes and boots.  Willie's mother may tell him that she likes him when he is good but from the very beginning, Tom's care for Willie is unconditional.

Willie is a character filled with self-loathing; he is ashamed of his illiteracy, terrified of being found out as a sinner, certain that nobody could ever really like him.  As time goes on, his talent for art begins to blossom and he finds acceptance from Zach and several of the other children from the village.  Zach constructs a new identity for Willie, renaming him 'Will' and deciding that Willie's shyness masks the fact that he is 'an independent soul, such as myself'.  Willie even finds himself involved in the local amateur dramatic production.  Of course, all of this is turned on its head when Willie's mother writes a letter requesting his return.  Willie has blossomed, grown and gained a whole new sense of self - like Tom, we are immediately anxious for what may befall him back in London but the consequences are truly catastrophic.


Magorian shows us a world where authorities expect blank obedience and teaches us to challenge it.  Willie's mother is furious when her newly-returned son dares to question her, but his time with Mister Tom has taught him to see through her to the trouble creature within.  Similarly, as Tom's concern for Willie grows into fear, he decides to disregard advice of others, even that doled down from the ARP wardens and other officials, he will follow his own instinct to protect the boy he has come to love.  He will fight against those who would keep Willie from him and he will reclaim his child who he knows is in danger.  And in Willie's very darkest moments he is able to grasp hold of his own character as he realises that his time in Little Weirwold has not been an act, he has in fact become Will.

The very name of the novel's central character celebrates the notion of free-will, that we can choose who we would be, that the actions of others and external events may be difficult, upsetting or even heartbreaking but they do not need to define our own fate.  Despite having some very dark moments for what is essentially a children's novel, Goodnight Mister Tom is essentially an optimistic tale.  Will grows from an anxious and unhappy child into a sturdy and independent young man who has a firm grip on his own identity.  After everything that Will has been through, the reader sits amazed by his resilience and fortitude.  It is no wonder that Spooky Cott holds no fear for this boy, he has seen it all now.

A number of years ago, ITV adapted Goodnight Mister Tom for the small screen to high acclaim with the late great John Thaw taking the title role.  Although there was much to praise in the production, I still found myself slightly underwhelmed.  Magorian's writing has such warmth and such depth and a wonderful gift for dialogue, it would always be difficult to live up to but I still felt disappointed that so many of the background plot-lines were sacrificed.  Will's friendship with George and the twins Carrie and Ginnie gives a lot of the humour to the book and Carrie's scholarship ambitions weave in the note of feminism which is a recurring theme in Magorian's fiction.

This will always be one of my best-loved books, we watch Will begin to grow up and as we leave him, we can feel a sense of relief that he has survived.  The joy of this book is not in the twists and turns of the plot which is admittedly conventional but rather in the world that Magorian has conjured up.  Even now, I can enjoy sitting by the cosy fire with Will as Mister Tom tells a bed-time story, to clatter down the country lanes with Will, Zach, George, Carrie and Ginnie - to experience once more the tenderness and warmth of this novel which is all about the power of love to heal all wounds.

I remember watching this as a child and it always stuck with me, but I had never sat down and read the whole book.

This story is such a beautiful and heartwarming story which tackles some really dark topics. It’s about found family, growing up and how the war affected everyone. It is emotional and sad but leaves you feeling hopeful and warmed. It also is a great reminder on how the simpler things in life are so much more valuable.

For those who don’t know, the story tells of a young boy from London, will, who is sent to the country as an Evacuee during WW2. There he is taken in by an old man and his dog. Whilst there he learns what love and true friendship means and starts to put the last behind him… for a while.

This book has been out for 40 years and I believe is a children's classic. This new edition has some extra bits which celebrate the book and the author.