Book Review of Wise Child by Monica Furlong

Fantasy Book that Harry Potter Fans Will Also Enjoy

Mar 21, 2009

Children will love Wise Child for its magic, mystery and suspense. Parents and teachers will love it because it deals with important life lessons.

Kids who have enjoyed books written by authors like J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman and Cornelia Funke will also have fun reading Wise Child by Monica Furlong. The book is a well-written page-turner that makes the reader feel very connected to the main characters, and it also deals with ethical and serious issues that kids face today.

The book is set in the Middle Ages and follows the story of Wise Child, a nine-year-old girl whose father is a captain who is out to sea for long periods of time and whose mother abandoned her years ago. Her grandmother looks after her and does everything for her, and in many ways, Wise Child is spoiled. But, then her grandmother dies and there is no one who can care for her.

A woman named Juniper who lives just outside of the village offers to take her in, and that’s when a new journey begins for the girl. Many people go to Juniper for healing, but many also gossip that she is a witch. Wise Child first fears Juniper, but later comes to appreciate the chores, schooling and consistent support she receives from Juniper. Wise Child learns how to be independent, hard working and to trust her gut feelings.

Then her biological mother returns for her, and Wise Child is torn. She has to decide between staying with a woman who treats her well and works her hard and returning to a woman who offers her an easy life and wealth, but who is also selfish and once abandoned her.

When times become tough for the village because of a poor harvest and a spreading illness, many villagers are starving, sick and fearful. The priest says Juniper is a witch and the cause of their troubles. They hunt down Juniper and again Wise Child must decide where her loyalties lie.

The terrific thing about this book is that it deals with serious issues and presents important moral values without being preachy. As well, the characters are crafted with such wisdom and love, you feel drawn into the challenges and triumphs of Wise Child. For example, the book looks at how a child can have mixed feelings about both a biological and adoptive parent. Even though she knows her mother is a troubled person, Wise Child finds it hard to say no to her.

Wise Child also doesn't like to do hard work at first, but learns the importance of it and eventually even likes it. The book also addresses judging others by their appearances. There is a man in the story who has leprosy and Wise Child is very scared of him. She sees how Juniper treats him with kindness and her own opinion of him changes over time.

Juniper is an excellent role model and is consistently understanding, patient and wise. She helps Wise Child overcome her fears -- from her fear of heights to her fear of being alone. She does not lecture; instead, she subtly guides Wise Child to see the truth for herself.

The lessons she teaches Wise Child are life lessons that children of today can learn a lot from, and the book is so well written that children will be happily flipping the pages to find out what happens next in this exciting fantasy adventure.

About the Author

Monica Furlong was born in Kenton, England in 1930, and she is well-loved for her fantasy novels that start with Wise Child. The next two she wrote in the trilogy are the prequel Juniper and her final book Colman. She has also written biographies of religious figures, a history of the Church of England and her autobiography called Bird of Paradise. As well, she has done some travel writing.

According to Karen Cushman in the foreword of Colman, some Christian reporters criticized Furlong for writing a lead character that appears to be a witch in the Wise Child series. But, Furlong’s response was that she was a practicing Christian and that her only goal was for the Church to treat women as equals.

In her lifetime, she also pushed the Anglican Church to ordain women and worked as a religious broadcaster for the BBC despite having a stutter. In 2003, she died of cancer at the age of 72.

Random House Children's Books, 1989, ISBN:10: 0394825985/ISBN:13: 9780394825984 (240 pages)

The copyright of the article Book Review of Wise Child by Monica Furlong in Young Adult Fiction is owned by Tamiko Nicholson. Permission to republish Book Review of Wise Child by Monica Furlong in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.