The Chestry Oak

Week 3:

The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy

I was really excited to read this book, after my mom told me about it. Copies of The Chestry Oak are difficult to come by, because the book is out of print, and is a favorite of many. My mom found a copy on Amazon, and gave it to me for Christmas. If you are a collector of children's lit. this is one you need to have on your shelf. It reminded me of The Little Prince, similar time period and themes.

The Chestry Oak was written in 1948, and is about a young Hungarian Prince, Michael and his experience throughout World War II. I actually learned a lot about what happened in Hungary during the war. It is a heart-wrenching story, made more so by the fact that it is told through the perspective of a little boy.

Some of the prose is quite cheesy, but you have to remember when the book was written. It also had a lot of Spiritual themes, and Seredy absolutely brought God into the book. That is something I appreciated, because it is something most authors today are afraid to do. I like being reminded that 65 years ago, it was perfectly acceptable for God to be mentioned, and talked about in a book for children. Especially in a book about a child's experience with war. It's too bad that is taboo these days.

I thought the book was about a boy and his horse, and in a way it is, but it is very much more about the values of family, loyalty, and responsibility.

The book reads like poetry, and I think this will be a fun one to read aloud to Liam when he is a little older.