Savage Carlson, Natalie "The Family Under the Bridge" - 1958
I remember selling this book in our school book sales. I probably bought this copy back then, after all, we, the parent volunteers, were our best customers.
But somehow, I never read it. Neither with my boys nor by myself. So, when in the Classic Challenge 2021, "a children's classic" was one of the prompts, I thought this might be the right one.
It's an alright book, you can tell it's sixty years old. I doubt children nowadays still would love it. The writing is pretty simple but the story doesn't grasp you. It was hard to follow any of the decisions made, especially the last one when the homeless guy turns into a grandfather/Santalike figure. Didn't sound real.
Still, it was interesting to read a book from that time-frame.
From the back cover:
"Armand was an old hobo who lived under a bridge in the streets of Paris. He begged and did odd jobs for money to keep himself warm and fed, and he liked his carefree life.
Then one day just before Christmas a struggling mother and her three children walked into his life. Though he tried to ignore their troubles, Armand soon found himself caring for the family and sharing his unusual home under the bridge with them. But the children missed having a home of their own. What could one old man do to make their Christmas wish come true?"
I vaguely recall hearing about this book at some point, but don't think I have read it.
ReplyDeleteI think it was popular when I was little. I remember seeing it in our book fair at school and bought it there. However, I think this is one of the stories that has run its time.
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