Bridge to Terabithia (A Puffin Book) Paperback – 2 July 2015

Having watched the film years ago I knew the main plot but reading it has still hit me like a train. I hadn’t read the book as a child but wanted to read it before recommending it to my 9 year old son. He was a reluctant reader to start with and still isn’t as voracious as I was at that age but he’s loving books and I wanted to give him that experience that only a good book can. Some books for his age range can still be too challenging for him and I don’t want to put him off with something that just feels like hard work. I’ll definitely be passing Bridge to Terabithia to him.I think he’ll see himself in Jesse, the kid who’s more into sketching and animation than football, the middle child who finds his older sister bewildering and his little brother a childish annoyance.Some of the cultural references and language might be confusing or unfamiliar to a 2017 kid in the UK but the themes and characters will speak to him clearly across continents and four decades. It takes moments to learn that overalls are dungarees or that it used to be OK for kids to go playing in the woods on their own but friendships, family, love and loss are all as relevant today.It’s beautifully written, with warmth and a light touch of humour and at no point does it patronise the reader. It feels like a children’s novel that respects the thoughts and feelings of the children in it and the children who read it.

Oh what a lovely story. ever heard of it before but apparently there's a film as well. Read about it in another book and felt I just had to read it for myself. Worth every penny. Now pass me the tissues again please!

I felt very bad for Jess when he came back from his trip and found out that Leslie died because she was the only friend he had.But overall I loved the story and how only Leslie and Jesse were able to actually see Terabithia, like their own secret land!

I've noticed that a lot of reviewers have clearly come to the book after having watched the 2007 film, which leaves them surprised and often disappointed. The movie has quite a lot of elements of fantasy, particularly in the imaginary cosmos of Terabithia. However, despite Terabithia being part of the title, the fantastical aspects of Terabithia are of little importance in the wider story. This story at its heart is about learning to accept and openly be oneself, and to overcome fears, both external but moreso internal. Terabithia represents the safe haven where the protagonist, Jesse, is able to share his true being with his new (and only) friend, Leslie. Only with Leslie and his younger sister May Belle is Jesse able and willing to show the real him. In a certain sense, we like to believe that children should feel comfortable to be themselves around their family at home and friends and teachers at school; the unfortunate reality, however, is that just like in the book, this often is not the case. As the story draws to an end, Jesse is finally about to come to a realization that his ability to be himself and overcome fears is not restricted to just Terabithia, but that those powers are inside of himself and he can go forth anywhere in the future and just be Jesse; in essence, he learns to build the bridge from Terabithia to the wider world. The 2007 film attempts, in my opinion somewhat unsuccessfully, to couple this core theme with a child-friendly sense of wonder and imagination through a heightened element of the fantasticalness of Terabithia. If you want that sense of fantasy, this may not be the right book for you/your child. On the other hand, if you want to consider the idea of "underface" (as Shel Silverstein put it) vs. the mask/public persona we all wear at most places and times, then this is an important text to read.

Having watched the movie of the same name and declaring it one of her favourite movies (ever) my granddaughter wanted to read the book.I bought this for her and she's well over the moon

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Bridge to Terabithia is a funny book. At the beginning, I ws quite intruiged by the style of writing and the plot that had beeb expressed so far. However, as I got further and further through the book, I became more and more bored an I waiting for something really exciting to hapen. Towards the end it gets more interesting again due to a certain event but apart from that, it is pretty dull. Not quite my thing.

Bridge To Terabithia is a middle grade classic American book. I heard about this on Lauren’s blog called Northern Plunder. As soon as I read the book blurb I had to go ahead and get a copy, which I then read immediately.The story is set in the mid to late 1970s in rural Virginia. Jess is twelve years old and about to start a new school year. He’s the only boy in a house with four sisters; many day-to-day jobs fall on Jess and he longs for time to escape so he can draw. At the end of summer new neighbours arrive and their only child Leslie becomes firm friends with Jess. Together they create a make-believe world in the woods; while at school they face the bullies and support each other. This is a classic book read and studied by many students. It deals with everyday pressures and has touching elements which many readers can either concur with or can learn from. I’m very late getting to this book, nor have I seen the film made from it, but it was a very enjoyable way to spend a few reading hours.