The Adventures of Geraldine Woolkins (The Geraldine Woolkins Series)

Ok. I am 51 yrs old, and don't know what possessed me to purchase this book. That being said, what a lovely treasure I have discovered! I fell completely head over heals for these characters! Brilliant writing! I could picture the characters and the scenery perfectly in my head. I could also hear the tone of their voices, and the sounds in the hollow and the woods. I could even feel the temperature and smell the food, etc. Very touching stories. I can't wait for grandchildren! I'm even thinking of creating felt characters to go along with the book! Delightful doesn't begin to describe this book! (Due to it's realistic content, it is not really appropriate for toddlers. There are some suspenseful moments.)

I get it. People are excited about this book because it subtly teaches Christian values and has a strong female lead. I ordered this book for my children (ages 7 and 5) after reading the excellent reviews. However, as a librarian and former ESL teacher, I frankly was surprised at the high level of language and abstract concepts in a book that is supposedly good to read aloud young children. Caveat: we got through only the first third of the book.

1) The dialogue shifts back and forth. Such changes are hard to read aloud. How many different character voices do I have to imitate so that my kids know who is talking?

2) Locations and characters are often referred to in phrases to reflect the perception of a mouse. For example, a house is a "big rock," a person is called "Hands." My kids had no idea what "Big Hands" was when it was talked about for the first 15 pages, and looked confused even after I tried to explain it.

3) Only a few pages in, the story has a story within a story which keeps getting interrupted (the mouse father tells his children a moral story). Again, confusing to read aloud. My kids were lost.

4) Vocabulary choice is unnecessarily complex. I say this even though I do have the opinion that children should have some challenging vocabulary in their books. For example, within one page, we have the following words: burlap, downy, hinted, punctuated, glimpse, furtive, cedar, temptation, chestnut (p. 48). Reading gets bogged down when my kids keep asking what words mean.

The Adventures of Geraldine Woolkins suffers from having excellent ideas with a poor execution for the interest age group. The story is written in a way that children age 8+ could understand... but that doesn't seem to be the target audience for a story about a young mouse in a forest.

We enjoyed this book and the sequel. We are eagerly waiting for the third book!

Here’s my wife’s review:

I recommend Geraldine Woolkins books because, even though God is everywhere, kids rarely meet Him in children books and this adventure book is a beautiful exception that every child should read.

Wonderful book! So interesting! My 5 years old daughter enjoys it as much as I do! The only thing that she misses is pictures. The picture on the cover is beautiful it would be great to see more pictures inside the book.

As a trained writer/ illustrator of children’s literature, and also a theologian, I quite enjoyed this book, but did notice a few things that could be better. The cover illustration was delightful! However, the illustrations at the head of each chapter were dull and lifeless and look like they are computer-generated. This original and charming book deserves much better illustrations.

A story about a woodland mouse could easily have become cliched, but instead the story had fresh, unexpected turns in it. I also enjoyed the “stories within the story” that the papa mouse read to his family. The one about lost mice hiding under a bell pepper frost cap was quite original.

I wasn’t aware this was a Christian-oriented book until about halfway through. At first I thought the inclusion of a G-d concept was a little, well, heavy-handed for a children’s book (no pun intended). On reflection, however, I think this aspect of the story fills an important need, as children are actually very curious about G-d, and the book provides a good format for children to explore that, and for parents and children to have that conversation. I also appreciated that the G-d concept presented here is actually quite ecumenical. Interestingly, even though the Woolkins family celebrates Christmas in the book, the holiday was presented more as a winter custom, and didn’t have any theology attached to it, which i think was wise.

I also like that the book is designed for readers of all ages. That’s not easy to pull off, but the author did a good job. I’m 67 myself, and enjoyed having something fun and uplifting to read before bed! (I’m so tired of the heavy, depressing novels that are in style right now.) And I certainly would have read this to my daughter when she was young.

All in all, I found this book to be fresh, calming and sweet, yet it also had good, appropriate substance injected with a light , graceful touch.

In particular, it modeled kindness and sensitivity toward one’s neighbors even if they are different from us... a universal value, not just a Christian one.

Geraldine Woolkins is a new mouse and she doesn't know much about the world around her home in the hollow. She enjoys the adventures her father reads about in The Book of Tales but she isn't sure she is ready when her own life turns into an adventure.

I read "The Adventures of Geraldine Woolkins" to my children at bedtimes. We really enjoyed it and they were always disappointed when we were unable to read for some reason. I really liked how things were described as a mouse would. The names of the locations are also what you'd expect from a mouse ("No Wolves Creek" "Where Blueberries Fall") Throughout the book there are lessons being taught from simple things like not eating your food too quickly to how God sees us all the time. My 7 year old commented "Whoever wrote this book must know Jesus" It was a nice feeling to be able to read this book to the kids and know they were being taught Godly things.

I would recommend this book to everyone, even if you don't have kids. It is a really good book.

I received a free eBook copy of this book in order for me to give my honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Cute book! It is adventurous, thought provoking and entertaining. I enjoy how it goes through some of the seasons with dear little Geraldine who navigates her first fall and winter as a small mouse. Seeing the first winter and Christmas through a little mouse is darling. Reminiscent of other animal books like Narnia and even Beatrix Potter.
It has good lessons for kids as they are reminded to obey their parents and there are reasons why parents will ask them to not do something or go somewhere, that it is for their safety and they know better than the child. Geraldine finds this out the hard way due to her curiosity and adventurous spirit!

I got this book for a 5 year old who likes chaper books about animals.

It reads a little too choppy for me. The thoughts and character dialogue bounce around too much and my daughter finds it distracting (as do I).

Granted, we didn't get through the book. We got through the first two chapters, but we just haven't gone back.

I really wanted to enjoy reading this book to my child but I think we need something a little bit more fluid. There are some good stories about animals, but the way the characters describe things leaves you actually wondering what they're talking about because they are described from the character's point of view. (In one of the stories they're talking about a big rock and it isn't until you read several pages through that you realize this big rock is actually a human house.) So, if I find it a bit distracting myself it is much too distracting for young child.

We have been reading the Animal Stories series books by Kincaid and nothing so far has come close to this wonderful series. Much better books.

I bought this book for ALL of my Great Grand Children and oh what a treat they are in for!I I could hardly put it down as I looked forward to Geraldines next adventure with the forest animals. I love the imagery of the "acorn soup bowls, to the ride on the bunnies fur by her ears" I felt like I was scurrying along the forest floor and back to my home in the trees. Thank you so much for helping me relive my childhood and please everyone, read this very intriging book to yourself, your grandchildren or your great granchildren., what a treat!

Book is missing pages. Goes from page 12 to 19.