Transcontinental Summer Reading

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

Recalling a favorite book from childhood is easy; trickier is remembering your younger self’s exact reaction to it. We canvassed young readers from across the globe to find out what they thought of their latest summer read. Review the rest of the series here.

Name: Olivia
Age: Nine
Location: Munich, Germany
Reading selection: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood

What was the book about?

It’s about three children who are raised in the woods by wolves, and then they’re found and brought back to a mansion and they ruin this Christmas party. Someone puts a squirrel in the house on purpose and since the children were raised by wolves, they chase it, and that ruins the party and the whole house. It’s a mystery they have to solve because no one knows who put the squirrel in the house or why.

What was your favorite part?

When the governess gives the children their Christmas presents, because the children love them very much. The night before they got presents from Lady Constance, the owner of the mansion, and they were presents they didn’t like. The boys got a gun, which they definitely didn’t like because they were raised by wolves. And the girl got a book about how to behave, even though the governess was teaching her. But the governess gives the girl a book of Greek myths, and one boy gets a story about the forest, and the oldest boy gets a book of Latin.

Why did you decide to read this book?

Because it looked interesting and I can trust my daddy to find good books for me.

What do you think happens after the end of the book?

It’s a series, so I can keep reading. I started the second book already. I think they’re going to go on this trip to London and discover a new mystery they need to solve.

If you could meet the author, what would you want to ask her, and why?

I would ask why she wanted to make the children raised by wolves. Why did she pick wolves? Why not bears?

Did any bad things happen in the book? Why did they happen?

Not really bad things, but mysterious things happen.

Which character in this book was most like you?

The governess Penelope because she likes to read poems and she doesn’t give up on teaching the children.

Fill in the blanks:

I like books better than food, but I like my family more than books. 

If you were writing this book, how would you have ended it?

I would have ended it the same way. A few things were explained, but it left some things open to be answered in the next book.

What do you think was the hardest part about writing this book for the author?

She had to make the children not speak English (because they were raised by wolves), so they say weird sentences.

biopic

TMN Editor Bridget Fitzgerald lives, works, and generally makes merry in San Francisco. More by Bridget Fitzgerald