Pobby and Dingan

I picked up Pobby and Dingan having no idea what the book was about but having seen it on an earlier year's NY Times Notable Books list. I am glad I did go ahead and read it as I enjoyed it a great deal and definitely recommend it to others. The book is about a young woman named Kellyanne Williamson who has two imaginary friends--Pobby and Dingan. Being imaginary, nobody has yet seen these two characters other than Kellyanne and her insistence on the reality of their being infuriates many at first including her brother Ashmol and her father. One day however, Kellyanne announces that they have disappeared and gone missing and she becomes quite ill as they increasingly cannot be found even after constant searching by many including her father who gets himself into a good bit of trouble in the Australian mining city they live in. Hospitalized with grief, Ashmol goes out in a final search for them and realizes that more than finding them is his challenge of convincing others of their importance to his ailing sister. A great story about how a town can come together under unusual circumstances to do the right if not obvious thing.

Another reviewer suggested that this book was about mental illness. That is hardly the case. There were two separate times in the story that suggested Pobby and Dingan were real. For example: if she was just making them up, how could she know they were missing?In the psychology book "Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them", there are two examples that made me wonder if there was more than fantasy involved. A young girl was upset that her imaginary pony was not at a horse show and the event was ruined for her as a result. It gave me the feeling that some imaginary friends are more real than we think. The author, of course, missed that concept entirely.I recently became a fan of the Flavia de Luce mystery series, and not just because of the books. The author has stated that he was writing another novel when Flavia "hijacked" his story and became the central character. Perhaps children have imaginary friends while authors have imaginary characters. The child talks to the unseen friend, but the adult can only listen to theirs.

How can we believe in what we can’t see? Thats the question lying deep in the pages of this beautiful story, which made me think of the strength we can share and provoke around an invisible cause.

I had to read this book for a Comparative Literature class and I was pleasantly surprised by it. This is a quick read--you can finish it in one sitting, but you can't help but feel attached to the characters. This is a very easy book to like and the story is excellent. At parts, though, it's a little unrealistic, which won't bother most people as much as it bothers me. Buy this book and, at the very least, you won't hate it. More likely, you will love it.

Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice is an enchanting tale that reminds all of us what it is like to be a child, so absolutley devoted to our imaginations. This, is a story of family, friends, and faith. Never hae I encountered a tale that so brilliantly shared a brother’s care for his sister to the point that Pobby and Dingan does. Prepare for an outside-of-the-box story that will steal your heart in just a matter of pages. The characters are original, the storyline unique, and the overall novella is a breathtaking piece of literature for older children up to grown adults.

Nice story

I bought this for my 8-yr old nephew. I read it years ago when it was published in Granta and have always loved it, my nephew and his mum now love it too. I don't think it's perfect for all 8-yr olds due to the subject matter but handled right and shared with a caring adult most kids will love it.

Ben Rice's charming and poignant novel has only one potential drawback, it's length, which may confuse would-be readers. Get past it! This story is just the right size, and beautifully captures the remote minimg town of Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, the opal capital of Australia. The town is inhabited by among others, the imaginary friends of Kellyanne Williamson. The story is narrated by Kellyanne's older brother, Ashmol through whose view and voice we meet the rest of the Williamsons and many of their fellow residents. The novel will serve to remind us very sweetly and gently that the inaginary is very real indeed.

Two pleasant enough short stories of around 90 and 50 pages respectively.Pobby & Dingan is set among the opal mines of Australia, where young Kellyanne Williamson escapes her - hinted at - unhappy life at school, to focus on her two eponymous imaginary friends. But when they fail to come home in the ute with Dad, Kellyanne takes sick. Narrated by her - at first scornful- older brother, Ashmol, we see the townsfolk rallying round to find them, and restore Kellyanne to health...Specks in the Sky seemed to start off as a vastly more compelling tale, but all seemed to fall apart at the end (whereas the strongest part of Pobby & Dingan was the final page.) Here a lone mother and her two daughters, out on a run-down camel ranch in USA, look up one day to see fourteen parachutists, led by the Commander, landing in their backyard. But are these charming and helpful young men all they seem?...Aimed at the teenage reader; perhaps they would have been better left as magazine stories (which is where they first appeared: in Granta and the New Yorker). But quite readable.

I have read this book several times and bought it for countless people as a present - I just love it. Heart-breakingly sad, genuinely moving, but not in a cringey way at all. The belief that fairy tales come true and that your imaginary friends are real is something we can all identify with. And the twist at the end is staggering.Admittedly the second story in this book ('Parachutes') is disappointing, but don't let that put you off. 'Pobby And Dingham' may be short, but it's perfectly formed.

Enjoying books which are not the run of the mill, I was lost for a moment and decided to see what one of my favourite authors enjoyed reading. This was on Dan Rhodes' list of thoroughly enjoyed books. I can see why. A lovely tale of two children in Australia. A superb yarn. I felt light and refreshed and awed by the mastery at telling what seemed during the reading as such a simple tale. One to stay with you.

This is a well meaning novello, but it really is more suited to the younger reader. The characterisation of the main characters are a little patronising. It is a sweet and well intentioned tale, but probably could have been covered in a short story.

Enthralling storytelling. Beautifully written and thought provoking.