The Wind on the Moon - Eric Linklater

Title: The Wind on the Moon (Part 1)
Author: Eric Linklater
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 201
Date read: March, 2013

In the English village of Midmeddlecum, Major Palfrey asks his two daughters to behave themselves while he is off at war. Sighs Dinah, "I think that we are quite likely to be bad, however hard we try not to be," and her sister Dorinda adds helpfully, "Very often, when we think we are behaving well, some grown-up person says we are really quite bad. It's difficult to tell which is which." Sure enough, the mischievous sisters soon convince a judge that minds must be changed as often as socks, stage an escape from the local zoo (thanks to a witch's potion which turns them into kangaroos), and - in the company of a golden puma and silver falcon - set off to rescue their father from the tyrant of Bombardy.

My school library back in primary school had this book, and it was one of my absolute favourite books. I think I must have taken it out about once every 6 months on average. Then I left primary school, and somehow didn't think about it in years. When my grandparents died, I inherited their copy of the book, but just never got around to rereading it. All in all, I think it's been 15-20 years since I read it last.

Somehow I got thinking about it recently, and got an urge to reread it. I was a tiny bit reluctant to start, as I wondered if it could at all live up to my expectations. Not all books can stand the test of time and be equally as good at age 33 as at age 10. However I really wanted to read it out loud to my nieblings.

And fortunately it turned out that "The Wind on the Moon" is just as good at age 33 as at age 10, and I loved every minute of rereading it. The edition I've gotten hold of has been translated by Queen Margrethe II, and I must say she's done a TERRIFIC job! Nothing shows a translators faults (or linguistic mistakes in general) as clearly as reading the book aloud, and her language just flows and makes it a delight to read.

It's wonderfully gratifying to revisit a childhood favourite and still find it worthy of your love.