The Primrose Railway Children

Books page quality is too good

I love Jacqueline Wilson. My daughter and I have read most of her books, and there's lots to like about this latest one.Unfortunately, there's a massively problematic central theme that I had to discuss with my daughter and would want other parents to be aware of. *Mild spoiler alert* In the book, the teenager 'Becks' fancies a boy she meets who is 18. She is 14 but tells him she is 16. He asks her out. Before they go out, Becks' little sister spills the beans and tells him that Becks is in fact 14. And he... thinks it's fine and goes out with her anyway?! They then become boyfriend and girlfriend. I found this problematic for lots of reasons. Firstly, believability. Most 18 year old lads would sooner die than date a little 14 year old girl. Most would be mortified about some younger girl having an obvious 'crush' on them too and avoid her. And almost all would want something out of a relationship that it would be illegal for them to get from a 14 year old! An 18 year old who encourages the crush of a young girl, asks the girl out and dates her is a bit dubious, to be honest. Then there's the mum - what on EARTH is she thinking, letting her 14 year old daughter go off in a car with an 18 year old lad she barely knows?! It's a terrible example of parenting, and although JW books are often showcasing difficult themes, this particular one isn't in any way called out or explained. It leaves younger readers thinking that it's normal to fancy older boys, expect those boys to fancy them back and that it's also totally normal if those older boys want to take them out. It's a weird thing to normalise and is maybe a sign of changing times since the author's younger days.On the plus side, the book has a lovely setting, interesting characters, a plot that loosely follows the classic and great illustrations. It also deals with autism in an educated and sensitive way without sensationalising anything or making it too much of a focus. But this problematic dating theme means I can't recommend it at all.

I had never read a Jacqueline Wilson before in all my years, and with not having children, didn’t think I ever would. However, I am an absolutely HUGE fan of the original film, “The Railway Children”, 1970, and after seeing Jacqueline on the news speaking about the release of this book, I knew instantly I wanted to read it.I needn’t have been worried that it might have been too childlike. I enjoyed this just as much today, as I enjoyed reading Enid Blyton Famous Five when I was a little girl. The best bit for me, was just how many nods to the original film, Jacqueline managed to squeeze in! It really gave me such a warm feeling whenever I came across any similarities. The number of “Daresays” was wonderful! I especially loved the names of the three children, with a huge nod to the original, not to mention the iced buns, taking food off a stranger (Ch 9), the band on the platform, this time a 21st century jazz band (and no bum notes!) , “It's not bad news is it?” - just so many little gems that would go unnoticed to most children, but which any adult fan of the film, is going to fondly adore. Lovely touch. Love the names on the iced buns (387),, a nod to Perks 42nd birthday, and 328 reminiscent of Perks being too proud to accept gifts off all the neighbours. Even chapter 20 “Not another word” took me straight back to the original film, I can hear Alberts wife in my head!I think Edith Nesbit would be very proud of this. It made for wonderful reading, but the extra special thought she’d given to the original, makes it just perfect.Shout out to Rachael Dean, whose illustrations were fab. Got to mention page 329! Sooo Boris Johnson!

I saw Jacqueline Wilson on" breakfast( bbc) she was promoting this book and I decided to have it.It was great, no wonder she is so popular her writing is superb, I was able to imagine the characters so easily.Now I am 76, and I thank Jacqueline very much.

We got a small sample with a magazine and my 8 year old daughter (just turned 8) really liked the sample so we bought this for her to read.It is a BIG book (physically) for a little girl but she really enjoys read it on a regular basis and when shes sitting in bed it's comfortable enough for her to read.

my 10 years old daughter really enjoyed it