A Little Boy Lost

📖 The Scoop

"The story is told with a skill that makes it much more than a tale of weird happenings in a boy's life addressed merely to young people. In fact, only their elders will be able fully to appreciate it and to understand its significance. It is a book that is filled with the spirit of nature that reaches into the hearts of all who are able to commune with her." -Boston Transcript

"Like all of Hudson's work, it is exquisite." -The New York Times

"Exquisite...Mr Hudson had already written several books which ensured for his name a prominent place in English literature but, undoubtedly, 'The Little Boy Lost' will be his chief claim to fame, for not only is it an excellent literary work, it is a veritable fountain of youth....Little Martin abandons the home of his parents, away in the Great Plain which, by inference, we assume to be the Argentine Pampas - and finds his way to the ocean after going through a series of most interesting adventures....In this respect, 'The Little Boy Lost' reminds us of 'Don Quixote.'" -The Public

"A charming tale of wanderings among strange creatures, among the people of the sky and the little people underground; by the blue water, and in the great forest." -Times

"No book has so nearly approached the Heart of Beauty since Charles Kingsley gave us 'The Water Babies.'" -Ladies' Field

"A fascinating child romance, full of imagination and originality." -World

"The poetry of the story and the vivid beauty of its style give it a texture far richer and more lasting than a mere fairy tale. For such a perfect jewel one craves a finer setting; far better let the mind picture the pages than clutter them with crude drawings." -The Nation

"Readers of the author's autobiography will recognize in the opening chapters of this book the reflection of his own childhood. The little boy, Martin, lives alone with his parents on the great pampas. His playmates are the domestic animals and the wild horses of the plain. As he grows older, getting to be about seven, he wanders farther and farther from home, discovering new marvels and experiencing new sensations. Then one day he goes so far that he can not return. The adventures that he meets are compounded, the author says, of 'childish impressions and adventures, with a few dreams and fancies thrown in and two or three native legends and myths.' He has tried to put into the story the quality that he missed in the books read in early life, 'the little thrills that nature itself gave me, which half frightened and fascinated me at the same time, the wonder and mystery of it all." -Book Review Digest

"It is after the manner of Richard Jefferies. Will stir the imagination." -Yorkshire Post

"A charming fancy. Constant in the love of Nature. Full of enchantment." -Morning Post

"Will appeal to the exceptionally imaginative child who is responsive to the beauty of nature." -Booklist

Genre: Fiction / Fantasy / General (fancy, right?)