Absolutely love this book, a favourite from my childhood and now a favourite of my children. More poignant for me now as I have adopted a child myself so can understand the bond with a child that doesn't share your dna.

Michelle Magorian's award winning historical novel is a wonderful re-read for me, I read it so long ago and it was a joy to re-acquaint myself with it. Some of you may be familiar with the story through the fabulous movie starring John Thaw. At the beginning of WW2, young Willie Beech is evacuated from London to a small rural village to stay with the withdrawn, grumpy loner that is Tom Oakley. When Willie first arrives he is a frightened and traumatised child, and no wonder, he has been abused, neglected and bullied, but as he begins to settle into the community and eat proper meals, he starts to blossom, even overcoming his fear of Sammy, the dog. Tom and Willie are so good for each other, but Willie's happiness is endangered with his terrifying return to his nightmare of a cruel, 'religious' mother. When Tom doesn't hear from Willie, he decides to go to London.

This classic emotionally touching story of war, resilience of the human spirit, hope, family, friendship, love, anti-semitism, death and child abuse is beautifully written and atmospheric, dealing with the most difficult of issues. I loved re-reading this, and would recommend this to all readers. Many thanks to Penguin Random House who are publishing a special anniversary addition this year.

This has to be up there as one of my favourite films & is guaranteed to make me cry everytime.

I have read this book more times than I can remember throughout my life, so you can imagine my delight on being accepted by Netgalley for this fabulous 40th anniversary edition. Not only did it have the story we've all grown to love about young Willie & Mr Tom, it also had a short on Tom Oakley & his wife Rachel, who as we know had passed away with their child.

Young William Beech is an evacuee & gets sent to the countryside from London. Malnourished, deprived & abused by his staunchly religious Mother, we see William begin to flourish under the care of widower Tom.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my ARC in return for my honest review.

𝗜 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮 5 ⭐ 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

Joining the ranks of John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Lois Lowry’s Number The Stars comes Michelle Magorian’s Goodnight Mister Tom, a touching tale of wartime woes.

Willie Beech was a fantastic protagonist. It was wonderful to see him grow in this coming of age story and his relationship with both Mister Tom and Zack were very genuine and sweet. He had such a transformation in character that it was great to see how he gradually picked up the town accent and Zach’s phrases and smiled more. Even the way the narration stopped calling him Willie and started calling him Will was a really lovely gesture to show his character’s progression.

Mister Tom was also a great character. Although he was viewed by others as grumpy and secluded, from the outset I found that he was kind to Willie in an unconventional way. Even before he realised that Willie was sensitive and traumatised Mister Tom was never mean, it was simply part of his nature to be blunt. In fact, he had quite a few hilariously blunt quips throughout the book and I loved his unexpected sassy remarks. It was amazing to see how much he grew throughout the book too. And the insight this 40th anniversary special gave us into his relationship with his wife (through the inclusion of the short story) was sweet and very tragic.

Speaking of additional features in this 40th anniversary edition, the new introduction from the author was lovely. Not only did it explain the concept of sewing children into their clothes (something that confused me in the story) but it also explained the origin of the story. And that’s something that’s always interesting to read about.

One thing I distinctly noticed was how groundbreaking this book must’ve been when it was first published 40 years ago. It touched on so many subjects which would’ve been taboo at the time (and some that are still taboo now) and had Willie face all these difficult things to put a spin on it. It didn’t end with a happily ever after (and this was the one time I would’ve permitted, nay encouraged, a book to) but it was extremely cathartic and wonderfully moving.

This book has held a very special place in my heart since I first read it as a child - and re-reading this new edition, which includes additional insight into Tom Oakley’s marriage to Rachel and a selection of lyrics from the stage musical, confirms how special this story is. Each scene is painted as vividly as if the colours in Rachel’s paintbox were employed for the task, untarnished by age - the perfect timeless tale, done justice by this anniversary edition.

This is such a beautiful book. I first read this book when i was 11 and reading it again in my 20's a lot of the topics in this book mean so much more to me.

I love that this book had a happy ending and that both chracters had such amazing growth.

This will be a book i will read with my children when they are older.

Just an absolutely beautiful and timeless story. I first read this as a teenager abs am now using it in class with my UKS2 children.

Willie Beech is an evacuee, sent away from his mother to the countryside where he meets Tom Oakley, who hadn’t volunteered for the programme. Nevertheless, he takes Willie into his home and welcomes him, as does the village around him.
Just as Willie is finding his way in this new world he has found himself in, tragedy strikes in more ways than one....

Would recommend for mature Y5 and 6, as well as young teenagers (and older readers!) One not to miss.

One of my favourite childhood classics! This story is poignant, humorous and heartfelt.

All characters are well-written, relatable and unforgettable. From Tom Oakley nursing his broken heart, to poor little William, bold Zack and all of the village residents, these characters will stay with you forever.

I still cry every time I read this and when I saw the musical a few years ago, it was a pleasant surprise.

A timeless classic that both kids (and adults) will love!