I first read this book over the summer of 1957. I got it through the Weekly Reader book club. I was interested in the classics at the time and David and the Phoenix fit right in. The author made the characters so true to life that I wished for a long time that I could stumble upon a bird like the Phoenix and make it my friend.

This was just a great story and I read it at exactly the right time of my life. When my son was smaller I looked in every used book store and library I could find for a copy. I wanted him to read it so much. Unfortunately time has marched on and he is now 16 and probably will not be interested in reading it. But, I am going to get a copy any way.

I heartily recommend this wonderful book for the preteen set.

I found this book in my Aunt's house when I was a young child, 12 - 15 years ago. "David and the Phoenix" made a lasting impression on me. I never liked to read much, until I read this book. My family lives at the base of a mountain and we did and still do a lot of hiking. Hiking and my love for all animals helped me relate to this book and I have loved to read ever since. My Aunt can't find this book anymore, probably one of her grandchildren got a hold of it, but I wrote down information about the book when I was a kid, hoping to find a copy for myself. I just happened upon that piece of paper and found that it was a 1958 Edition - Selection of the Weekly Reader, Children's Book Club - Education Center published by Follett Publishing Company, Chicago. Manufactured in the United States of America by American Book-Stratford Press, Inc., NY. Published simultaneously in Canada by Ambassador Books, Limited. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 57-8280. I recently tried to find a copy and had no luck. This is my last hope of finding the book so that the children I hope to have someday soon can enjoy it too.

I too received "David & the Phoenix" from the weekly reader book club. Like a first true-love, it is a book that I will never forget. How can a 50 year old man still remember a chlidren's book so well? I have spoken to several others my age who also fell in love with this book. I have a copy and searched for many years before I found a second copy, which I gave to a friend. It has always been my secret desire to write a screenplay of the book. I glad that someone finally has. Who is making the movie?

Several years ago I tracked down Edvard Ormondroyd and spoke with him on the telephone. He is a librarian in New England. I just wanted to thank him. He told me about his other books. I read them all. They were excellent. I especially liked the series with the time travel. They too would make an excellent movie.

I read this book back in the 70s and it was my all time
favorite. It really appealed to my sense of adventure and
I loved the idea of time travel. Now I love reading historical
novels. If I could find it again I'd definitely buy it
to share with my children. If I could, I'd give it 10 stars!

Good dialogue, wonderfully crafted story.

Protagonist is a girl, but boys love it, too. I read it at age 12, and again read it aloud to my kids when they were 8 and 10 years old.

I love time travel books. This book shows great courage

All in Good Time is the sequel I never knew existed - to Time at the Top, which was one of my favorite books as a child. All in Good Time is written in a style similar to Time at the Top, and it clears up a few of the questions left at the end of the first book.

All in Good Time might be called the "after the elevator trip" book - we pick up almost exactly where Time at the Top left off, with Susan and Mr. Shaw emerging into the 1880s. Susan, Victoria, and Robert discover that it isn't as easy as they thought it would be to make their parents fall in love, and their time is limited on both sides. At a highly inopportune moment, Cousin Jane appears, and things get worse - then Mr. Sweeney reappears, and it seems hope is gone. However, the author himself takes a hand in the tale through a rather improbably mechanism, and the day is saved.

All in Good Time will be a welcome discovery to all those who were left wondering at the end of Time at the Top. The book does not stand on its own, though - definitely read the other one first.

For those who wondered what happened to Susan Shaw and her father when they went back to 1880s America to rejoin the Walker family, this book answers the questions faithfully and logically. The author casts himself into a pivotal, albeit small role in this story, where Susan and her new friends find it isn't easy to make Mr. Shaw fall in love with the widowed Mrs. Walker. Add a dour Aunt Jane to the already established villain, Mr. Sweeney, and you have a challenge that can only be remedied by a future intervention by the author. The only drawback is the fact that this book, too, leaves unanswered questions in its wake, and a third book never appeared to rescue the reader. The story reads very well, with excellent use of words by a writer whom I have long admired and recently corresponded with. Recommended along with "Time At The Top" for teenage and young adult readers.

I expected this to be another of Ormondroyd's excellent time travel books, like Time at the Top. Instead, it's a somewhat metaphysical tale, with rather less meat than most of his books - but still quite enjoyable to those who love old-style children's literature.

Three children - Linda, Richard, and Dudley - are making a stay in the countryside. When they spy an island, they are told that the place is forbidden, as is the lake that surrounds it; it's all the property of an old lady whose son died in a freak accident on the lake 50 years ago. The children name the island "Long Ago," and, led on by mysterious invitations, plot to get there, where they find both answers and danger.

About 75% of the book concerns the kids' plans to get to the island, most of them abortive, which probably accounts for the slowness of the novel. And the book doesn't make the transition into modern day as well as many of Ormondroyd's; the gender roles become particularly grating after a while, as Linda plays Goodie Two Shoes to Richard's single-minded obsession and Dudley's more rounded character.

Still, the book is good fun in an old-fashioned vein, and Ormondroyd fans will probably enjoy it quite a bit.

Imagination Greene is a higher-word-count picture book based on anachronism. It's set in the early days of America, and in it, two siblings make wishes. One of them wishes for three strange contraptions - a carriage that moves without horses, a machine that can carry voices long distances, and a box that displays moving pictures. His family laughs at his wild imagination, and they nickname him Imagination Greene.

While young children might find the idea comical, they'd probably miss the message therein. And older children would be turned off by the illustrations, which are unfortunately rather flat, and the format.

Not Ormondroyd's best book - try his juvenile fiction instead.