Goodnight Mister Tom: Michelle Magorian (A Puffin Book)

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By November, most evacuees have returned to London, which poses a problem for the play director, Miss Thorne, as she has to keep re-casting roles for the Christmas show, " A Christmas Carol." Willie takes over as prompter after finishing the scenery and after a week he knows most of the play by heart. When he is asked to fill in for someone, he turns out to be an incredibly talented actor, even impressing Zach. Miss Thorne needs a new actor to take on the role of Scrooge and gives the part to Willie. Tom also steps up to fill in for Mr. Bush, who is called to war, to play the organ for the men's choir. He has not played in a very long time as it reminds him of his wife. Thus, both Willie and Tom are faced with a new opportunity to come more into the spotlight. He was standing quite still, feeling both paralysed and yet at the same time filled with a flood of energy. I love wry humor - I love humor that is never outwardly spoken, but you have to find it in the little subtexts - those little nuances that indicate that it is said with a lilt that makes it a humorous tone - blink and you'll miss it. And these little moments of Zach spouting his signature phrase touched my heart at how it added such levity to the seriousness of the scene. And --- and then, my heart broke when Ms. Magorian led us down a path of Zach's fate that I was not prepared for. 🥺🥺 I honestly have to ask- how did this novel get such a high rating? It was easily one of the worst novels I have ever read. 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.

Television & Radio Industries Club Award 1999: Best ITV/Channel 5 Programme of 1998 for Goodnight Mister Tom 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.Is that not a beautiful sentiment - the true value of being loved and recognized. That, you can feel the comfort of knowing someone is there, but when you don't have the opportunity to see that person, you feel their absence even more. This little town welcomed him with open arms so much - that they got so much joy in seeing him grow - that they saw how this little boy changed an old man, who had been grieving for his wife and child for forty years. He was not only Mr.Tom's - he had become a lovable part of their community. 🥹🥹 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. Willie Beach finds himself living with Tom, a man in his sixties, a widower who has lived alone for a long time, but who fits the bill for the kind of person Willie’s mother has requested her son be put with. As I mentioned, I read this book when I was ten and now twelve years later this book was still beautiful. It has aged extremely well. 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.

Goodnight Mister Tom is a children's novel by English author Michelle Magorian, published by Kestrel in 1981. Harper & Row published an American edition the same year. [1] Set during World War II, it features a boy abused at home in London who is evacuated to the country at the outbreak of the war. In the care of Mister Tom, an elderly recluse, he experiences a new life of loving and care. It was for their own safety, of course, London was too dangerous, one of the prime targets for Hitlers bombing campaign, so the relative safety of country villages was thought to be the answer. We see that Tom is a man of integrity, who has a strong grip of what is right and wrong. If something is right, he will do it, regardless of whether or not it is easy. Tom breaks the rules of the hospital by kidnapping Willie because his moral sense, personified through his wife, tells him to do so. His fiercely loving nature gives him the courage to make these difficult choices and take risks to defy what he perceives to be unfair. William Beech It must have been traumatic, leaving behind Mums and Dads, older siblings, their former schools, pets possibly, in fact, everything that was familiar and comforting, and finding themselves in a totally different environment with people who knew nothing of these children’s former lives. This is such a great story, it’s about the transformative power of kindness and understanding, of patience and friendship.

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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. You will love Tom. He’s the perfect adult character of all time for me! I just wish every adult to be this giving, caring and nurturing towards every child. It’s about how a man who once lost so much is at last given the chance to show what a truly good man he is, what a wonderful Father he could have been if fate hadn’t robbed him of that opportunity so many years before.

As Mr. Tom begins to observe Willie, whom Mr. Tom calls William, he begins to realize that this is not an average child. He seems fearful and withdrawn, without any joy or trust in people, which softens his heart and the love and kindness he extends to Willie end up changing both of their outlooks on the world. It soon becomes apparent to Tom that Willie hasn’t had a happy childhood, that in fact, he’s been subjected to cruelty and deprivation, and so Tom sets out to improve the boy’s life. This book is one of my all-time favourites and I know I say that about every book, but I definitely mean it this time.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.