- Pre-order Price Guarantee: order now and if the Amazon.co.uk price decreases between the time you place your order and the release date, you'll be charged the lowest price. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
-
Seasonal Offer:
This title is part of our Seasonal Offers promotion.
Village School (Fairacre 1)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Book Description
The very first Miss Read novel - set in 1950s England, perfect nostalgia from the bestselling author of the Fairacre series.
Product Description
Fairacre is a village of cottages, a church and the school - and at the heart of the school, its head mistress, Miss Read.
Through her discerning eye, we meet the villagers of Fairacre and see their trials and tribulations, from the irascible school cleaner Mrs Pringle, to the young school children, with their scraped knees, hopeful faces and inevitable mischief.
Miss Read takes us through the school year, beginning with the Christmas term, when the bitterly cold weather challenges the school's ancient heating system, right through to the hot summer day when school is over for another year.
Full of Miss Read's unique, acerbic wit, and wry observations, Village School is an intriguing glimpse into a forgotten world, and has become a true classic.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
At first sight it was all too easy for me to dimiss these novels as 'cotton wool head' fodder. On the other hand, once I had read one, I felt compelled to read them all. At the end of a crazy day I find that reading Miss Read is a healthy, albeit guilt-ridden, alternative to Mogadon. I love the slow pace, the importance put on seemingly minor everyday subjects and the time taken out to just stop and reflect.
Would I admit this to my Ibiza-going, uber-cool partying friends? Are you kidding?! av it!!
Would I admit this to my Ibiza-going, uber-cool partying friends? Are you kidding?! av it!!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Miss Read, is an unmarried head-teacher in a small village school. The two classrooms at Fairacre School take all the village children from age five until they are eleven. There is no running water in either the school or the schoolhouse where Miss Read lives, and toilets for the school children, consists of a wooden seat on a large bucket. For the villagers of Fairacre, busses run three times a week to the nearby market town.
Things may sound rather desperate in Fairacre when compared to our modern lives, where kids expect the newest fashions and expensive gismos, and we as adults expect to jump in a car and drive to the nearest supermarket to buy a weeks shopping.
For me however 1950's Fairacre brings back a lot of memories of being educated in a village school in Britain during the early 1970's. When Miss Read describes the ecclesiastical architecture of the school with its arched windows letting in light but at the same time being too high off the ground to see out of. I just close my eyes and I am instantly transported to my schoolroom when I was seven years old. I can still smell the polish from the wood floor and the soap in the cloakroom where our coats and satchels hung on pegs with our little towels and homemade "Dap Bags" containing our footwear for PE.
Miss Read is a keen observer of village life, nature, and the changing seasons. The village school life unfolds with gentle humour and insightful social commentary. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys social comedy. Some of the children who feature in this book go on to be lifelike characters in later books. Joseph Coggs is my favourite of the children who announces at the end of his first day in the "babies class"; that the toys and the clay were fun, but his favourite bit was dinner time.
With Village School you enter a bygone time that brings 1950's village life alive.
Things may sound rather desperate in Fairacre when compared to our modern lives, where kids expect the newest fashions and expensive gismos, and we as adults expect to jump in a car and drive to the nearest supermarket to buy a weeks shopping.
For me however 1950's Fairacre brings back a lot of memories of being educated in a village school in Britain during the early 1970's. When Miss Read describes the ecclesiastical architecture of the school with its arched windows letting in light but at the same time being too high off the ground to see out of. I just close my eyes and I am instantly transported to my schoolroom when I was seven years old. I can still smell the polish from the wood floor and the soap in the cloakroom where our coats and satchels hung on pegs with our little towels and homemade "Dap Bags" containing our footwear for PE.
Miss Read is a keen observer of village life, nature, and the changing seasons. The village school life unfolds with gentle humour and insightful social commentary. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys social comedy. Some of the children who feature in this book go on to be lifelike characters in later books. Joseph Coggs is my favourite of the children who announces at the end of his first day in the "babies class"; that the toys and the clay were fun, but his favourite bit was dinner time.
With Village School you enter a bygone time that brings 1950's village life alive.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Village school is the first book in the Fairacre series. The series begins in the fities, however the later books still maintain the fifties atmosphere.
The book deals with the trials, tribulations and triumphs of being a village school headmistress (definitely a headmistress not a headteacher!)
The characters are three dimensional and mostly likeable. Who could fail to love Joseph Coggs trying desperately to flourish despite his shiftless family. Any child who thinks that three helpings of school dinner is the best part of the day just has to be a star. Mrs Pringle is undoubtedly one of the most malignant characters in fiction, full of bile and vitriol "One of the happy martyrs of this world.". Yet she can also be a great comic turn with her 'combustible leg' and her malapropisms.Nevertheless the highlight of the stories is the portrayal of Miss Read herself. She is nice, without being too nice. independent but sociable. Her running battles with the country children and Mrs Pringle are a joy.It is her touches of acerbic wit that prevents the stories from becoming uncomfortably cosy. You have to empathise with a woman who writes "John Burton,...saw fit to repeat his famous dying duck-in-a-thunderstorm act...I leant forward and, without any warning, gave John Burton a sharp box on the ear. It was, I found, the best moment of the day."
If you've had a stressful day, if the news is alll doom, gloom and disaster, do what I do read a few chaperters of Village School before going to sleep- It will soon make you feel more at peace with the world.
The book deals with the trials, tribulations and triumphs of being a village school headmistress (definitely a headmistress not a headteacher!)
The characters are three dimensional and mostly likeable. Who could fail to love Joseph Coggs trying desperately to flourish despite his shiftless family. Any child who thinks that three helpings of school dinner is the best part of the day just has to be a star. Mrs Pringle is undoubtedly one of the most malignant characters in fiction, full of bile and vitriol "One of the happy martyrs of this world.". Yet she can also be a great comic turn with her 'combustible leg' and her malapropisms.Nevertheless the highlight of the stories is the portrayal of Miss Read herself. She is nice, without being too nice. independent but sociable. Her running battles with the country children and Mrs Pringle are a joy.It is her touches of acerbic wit that prevents the stories from becoming uncomfortably cosy. You have to empathise with a woman who writes "John Burton,...saw fit to repeat his famous dying duck-in-a-thunderstorm act...I leant forward and, without any warning, gave John Burton a sharp box on the ear. It was, I found, the best moment of the day."
If you've had a stressful day, if the news is alll doom, gloom and disaster, do what I do read a few chaperters of Village School before going to sleep- It will soon make you feel more at peace with the world.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A typical Miss Read read
A Christmas present for my wife, the collection is the usual whimsy, an easy read ideal for drifting off to sleep to.
Published 3 months ago by D. Smith
A simple delight
Miss Read's novels have always been a treasure for me, and a nostalgic source of comfort. I have several hardback/paperback versions, so why not have it as one of the first... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Sandford
village school, Read
a brilliant story about village life when the school and school house were at the heart of the village. the first in a series by Miss Read
Published 14 months ago by margo
Why arnt they on TV ?
I have often wondered why these lovely books arnt on TV what wonderful Sunday night viewing they would make.. I want to see Victoria wood as mrs pringle.. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Jacqueline
Village School by Miss Reid
Miss Reid is a person that can take you out of yourself. I find her books magical, and remind me so very much of my own childhood. All her books are full of life and fun.
Published on 2 Aug 2009 by J. M. Jones
Easy read
Nice easy old fashioned read. The Miss Julia series by Ann B Ross have a similar feel (in a more contemporary setting) and are more engaging.
Published on 7 Mar 2007 by ecogirl
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
