Philippa Pearce Summary

Philippa Pearce entwines realistic and imaginary landscapes and characters to create some of the most memorable fantasy of modern times. Her prevalent theme of the importance of friendship is explored... Read more

Critical Essay by The Junior Bookshelf [Minnow on the Say] is captivating from the beginning…. There is a neat balance of hopes and disappointments, and the reader's concern for Adam an... Read more

Critical Essay by Jean C. Thomson [The Children of the House is a] book designed to leave its readers downcast…. [It is] a juvenile book reduction of the Sitwells' dilemma. The fantasy ... Read more

Critical Essay by Eleanor Cameron [In Minnow on the Say] one finds the same devouring awareness of the natural world, the same complexity and maturity of thought …, the same artistry of phrasi... Read more

Critical Essay by David Rees Minnow on the Say employs a familiar formula for a children's book—the successful search for a long-buried treasure, with its usual attendant props, the fal... Read more

Critical Essay by Margaret Sherwood Libby We can think of no other [story] which has such an unusual combination of plot, characterization and vivid sense of place [as does "The Minnow Leads t... Read more

Critical Essay by Virginia Haviland [The Squirrel Wife] is constructed of fairy-tale components: a protagonist, Jack, an overworked young swineherd; a species of fairymen—the green people; and... Read more

Critical Essay by The Times Literary Supplement Philippa Pearce's book of short stories, What the Neighbours Did, confirms her, if confirmation were needed, as the most important writer for ch... Read more

Critical Essay by Penelope Farmer "In the Middle of the Night," the best story here in Philippa Pearce's ["What the Neighbours Did and Other Stories,"] is very funn... Read more

Critical Essay by Margery Fisher Just as M. R. James lures his readers, word by word and paragraph by paragraph, till they feel the un-ordinariness of the curtains, the sheets on the bed, the dusty o... Read more

Critical Essay by The Junior Bookshelf [The short stories in The Shadow Cage and Other Tales of the Supernatural] are not 'ghost' stories in the usual sense of the word, but something m... Read more

Critical Essay by Dorothy Nimmo [The Shadow Cage and Other Tales of the Supernatural] is not a collection of ghost stories intended to appeal to children of a certain age who, as is well known, like ... Read more

Critical Essay by Rosemary Stones So many superlatives have been applied to Philippa Pearce's work that a new book from the Pearce stable is in danger of being treated with undue deference by ... Read more

Critical Essay by The Junior Bookshelf [A writer of Philippa Pearce's] unmatched integrity can do nothing trivial, and even her slightest book has the Pearce fingerprints all over it. In [The ... Read more

Critical Essay by Judith Armstrong Ghost stories, especially those which concentrate on the relationship between a single person and his ghost, as in the work of Philippa Pearce, are anti-fatalist. T... Read more

Critical Essay by The Junior Bookshelf The second novels of brilliant beginners are so often disappointing. Miss Pearce's successor to Minnow has now appeared after three years, and her most e... Read more

Critical Essay by The Junior Bookshelf A Dog So Small is [excellent and unusual], and more…. Miss Pearce, in addition to her command of words, characterisation and setting, is a master in t... Read more

Critical Essay by Mrs. E. D. Moss "The Children of the House" is an elegant piece of writing, sad but at times wryly humorous…. The four children are alive and individual; their ... Read more