The Railway Children

By: Edith Nesbit

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Edith Nesbit's classic story of three children whose lives are turned upside down when their father suddenly goes away and they have to move to the country. They are captivated by the local railway and make friends with the local station staff and the old gentleman who travels daily on the train.The children experience all kinds of adventures, but the biggest adventure is the one which they do not even understand themselves... the reason for their father's absence and the mysterious quest to bring him home. A captivating story for all ages. The Railway Children, published in book form in 1906 and never out of print since, has a special and enduring place in British children's literature.

Public Domain (P)2011 Red Door Audiobooks

It's awesome!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Railway Children?

Their father disappears and the rest of the family goes to country.

Have you listened to any of Cathy Dobson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

yes a little

Any additional comments?

no additional comment

I would give it one million stars

My son loved this book being he’s a really big train fan. This book was great for him and he couldn’t have much better of a book.

Kids didn't make a peep for 6 hours!

This book is a favorite with my 7 year old boy and 4 year old girl. The children are realistic while still being a good example (they aren't goody two shoes but they are generally kind and well meaning). The language is somewhat difficult--partly because this is from over 100 years ago--but once I got them through the first ten minutes or so, they were so engaged in the story they didn't seem to notice the words they didn't understand. We've now listened through twice (once from the library and now we own it on Audible because they loved it so much) and the second time through they understood right from the start.

As a parent, I love that my kids are hearing good literature, learning excellent vocabulary and sentence structure, and play quietly for 6 hours straight!

A Shame About the Narrator

The story is a classic and I felt it would be a pleasure to listen to it again on a long road trip with my grand-children. Unfortunately, the narrator seriously put my grand-children off. Her tone was patronizing and put on... like she was reading to children aged two or three in a Victorian nursery. My grand-children felt like she was talking down to them and consequently couldn't get beyond the narration to appreciate the story. In fact, as we tried to listen to the book, they began to mimic the voice and tone of the narrator and this became the fodder for jokes for the entire trip. I believe the narrator seriously misjudged her audience because this is not a story that one would read to a 2-3 year old in the first place. For what it's worth, the first part of the book is the worst so if you can get through that, the story itself makes up for the narration.