Adam of the Road (Puffin Modern Classics)

Only half way through but its engaging and informative. Perfect for a Charlotte Mason school

Adam is an apprentice minstrel, traveling around England with his father and his beloved dog, entertaining at inns and at homes for the wealthy. But when Adam accidentally gets separated from both his father and his dog, he has to set off on a long adventure on his own to find them, and in the process meets people of all ranks in society, most of them kindly and generous, but also including a few thieves and bandits. Grey Vining researched the history, society, songs, poems and English-language idioms of the time, as well as the occasional phrase of Latin that a boy with a few years of schooling might know. Kids will have to do a little work with the dictionary, but for a "hero's journey" story about someone roughly their own age, it should be rewarding.

Happy to find this book, one of my favorites from my childhood. I read it out loud to my adult daughter as we accomplished a long drive from the northern edge of the U.S. to the southern. She was impressed by the development of the story and the fleshing out of the characters. The author also did a wonderful job of bringing this period to life.

Adam of the Road is a gentle adventure. It's an adventure because eleven-year-old Adam wanders alone through fields, forests, and cities, in freezing weather, without adequate food or clothing or money. It's gentle because despite the actual and potential dangers and hardships of Adam's journey, the story is never really scary or upsetting. Sometimes impetuous and sometimes sweet, Adam has an unusual combination of courage and innocence. There are a few anachronisms - the service of Evensong developed some three hundred years after the time of this book - but I've seen similar anomalies in other writings from the mid-twentieth century. I think some details of history were just not as well known then, and anyway this does not detract from Adam's story. I liked Adam and wanted him to succeed, but I didn't feel close to him. I enjoyed the book, and I think for a children's book written in the 1940s it was quite an accomplishment.

Got this for my granddaughter as a back to school request I hope she enjoys reading it

Excellent story for my 11 and 8 yo sons to enjoy. I read it aloud to them. We had interesting discussion around “what would you do?” Literature allows us to evaluate the mistakes or commendable decisions of others without living the mistakes ourselves. Recommended!

I loved this book! Elizabeth Gray Vining’s book has many great lessons for kids. Among them: perseverance in the face of difficulty, learning to get along with others who are different than you.

We are a home schooling family and my son is 11. He is taking an online Writing class and this is one of the books he was required to read. Out of all the books he has read in this past year, this one was his very favorite. An easy and fun read filled with adventure. I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend The King's Shadow.

This book made me feel so confused. It takes place in the middle ages and is fairly easy to read...except the descriptions of things that i have never seen because they existed in the middle-ages! The book needs lots of illustrations to be able to understand whqt the author is talking about. I wasn’t able to finish it and donated it to a second hand shop.

Item just as described. Fast delivery. Thank you!

This is a great story from an age when telling a good story was more important than political correctness. I'm reading it to my boys for a homeschooling unit on the medieval period, and the accuracy of the historical detail is remarkable, but never overshadows the story itself. I wouldn't be surprised if it went out of print in coming years. That would be a terrible loss.