The Fledgling

By: Jane Langton

Narrated by: Mary Beth Hurt

It all started when Georgie, hardly more than a wisp of thistledown, discovered she could jump down twelve steps in two big graceful bounds. Next, to her great delight, she learned that jumping from the porch and floating as high as the rooftop was possible too. So when the mysterious Canada goose appeared at her window one night it seemed only natural to climb onto his back and go off with him to learn how to really fly. But no one wants Georgie flying. And one person, that horrible Ralph Preek, will stop at nothing to prevent Georgie's lovely Goose Prince from coming.©1980 Jane Langton (P)2000 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, An Imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"This gentle, exquisite story...speaks of that tentative step from the innocence of childhood to the acceptance of growth and change." (School Library Journal)

Tear jerker

Loved this heartfelt tribute to the process of growing up and the adults who make it easier to do so.

Love this story

I read this book so many times when I was younger. I loved the narration!

Enjoyable and Thought Provoking

When you're faced with that child that is just, well, different, sometimes you worry. You wonder if they'll turn out ok. If it's just a phase or if something is really wrong. Listening to this book as a mother of young boy I thought about how I would respond if one of my children acted as Georgie did, just a little out of step from all the other kids. I loved how her family responded to her, gave her space to be her. Protected her and cherished her.

I read some reviews before diving into this one, and while it's rather outside of my normal genre, I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually really enjoyed it. Only after finishing it did I learn it's part of a series, Book #4 in the "Hall Family Chronicles." I found the writing to be really enjoyable. The way each of the characters were described, and the details that made them come alive. I feel almost as if I watched this as a movie.

I felt like listening to Thoreau's "Walden and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" gave me a better appreciation for the constant reference to him throughout the book.

One review I read said they thought the goose prince speaking felt unnecessary. And, I think so as well. I wanted somewhere at the end of the book to have it all explained. To have the author spell out the analogies, and tell you Georgie never really did fly, it was all in her imagination. But, also I'm not sad that she didn't.

It's a sweet book, and certainly one that is enjoyable and thought provoking.