What do You think about The Story Of The Treasure Seekers (1994)?
Read my full review at: http://ilayreading.com/2015/09/01/the...The unnamed narrator of The Story of the Treasure Seekers (unnamed because he wants you to figure it out on your own) tells us about several adventures that he and his brothers and sisters concocted. Their mother has died, leaving a mourning father and The Fall of the Fortune of the Bastables. Obviously, it is up to the six Bastable children to raise money so that their devastated father’s happiness will return. The sentiment is very sweet, but they get up to so much trouble. Every single plot they come up with goes horribly awry, and the adults in their universe pity them so completely that you just want to smother them with hugs. Not that they would ever accept that, of course.I imagined our brave little narrator as a sort of Gavroche character–rebellious, ornery, but definitely the leader of the clan. Every child had his/her own personality, but I think my favorite was Noel, the solemn little poet. Some of them were quite good!E. Nesbit wrote this is the late 1800s, and it’s one I can see a group of siblings cuddling around in the nursery to read before bed. It’s going on the list to buy my nephew when he gets old enough–technology or not, I think any 7-10 year old would love these old-fashioned silly little adventures.
—Haley
When their father's business is struggling, the six Bastable children, Dora, Dicky, Oswald, Alice, Noel, and H.O. embark on a series of exploits designed to earn money to restore the family fortune. Their money-making schemes range from publishing Noel's poetry to actually digging for treasure. Some of their more daring plans get them into some trouble. Overall, it was a cute story, with some funny twists, but it annoyed me that the narrator wouldn't reveal which of the children he was until the end of the book(I figured out who it was half-way through, but still...). And even after telling the reader his identity, he kept needlessly referring to himself in the third person. The writing is nicely done, and well-detailed, but tends to ramble a bit and linger on unimportant details. However, I didn't mind this too much because it sort of reflects the way a child would tell a story in real life. However, it did bother me that despite the plot revolving around the children trying to earn money to help their father, on the occasions that they did get a bit of money somehow, they invariably spent it. Come on, why are you buying candy with that money when you could put it towards financial stability for the whole family? The narrator even says at one point that "a penny saved is a penny earned". I almost laughed at the irony of that considering how little of the money they ended up actually saving. Logistical problems and annoyingly anonymous narrators aside, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, light read, and something I might read again some day.
—Victoria
I remember enjoying this a lot as a kid, and it's still pretty good now. Actually, in some ways it's even better because, aside from all the adventures the characters have, I'm now able to better understand all the things that are secretly going on in the background of the book with their father's financial problems and so on. Everything turns out unbelievably well in the end, but the fact that the children do get told off when they do something idiotic (e.g. getting their dog to attack a lord so they can rescue him from it, or the whole sherry thing) made it a little less saccharine. Much like the last book I finished (The Jolliest School of All), this one is a bit racist in places, although more in a "children are ignorant" way than anything actually malicious.Still, it has cheered me up to read a book in which not all of the characters are terrible people... I feel like it's been a while.
—Katy
