William - The Showman
Richmal Crompton
Macmillan Children's Books. First published in 1937
Eminently readable by adults. In fact I think the William books would probably bore the children of today. The books describe the adventures of eleven-year old William Brown and his three friends, who form a rowdy group called 'The Outlaws' in a mid 20th century English village. William is an intelligent and imaginative boy with plenty pluck and initiative. His feet are always firmly placed on the ground, and he has no false airs. His schemes often end in disaster, but sometimes, almost magically, end up well for him and those around him, in the process puncturing inflated egos or exposing fraud. The stories are populated by delightful characters such as Violet Elizabeth Botts (who has a lisp, and always threatens to 'thrceam and thrceam' to get her own way), William's father Mr. Brown, who has an understated sense of humor, Ethel and Robert, William's teen-age siblings, who are always busy with their romantic entanglements, the vicar and his wife, the retired General Moult, formerly of India, and so on. Each of the more than 35 books present a set of about 10 short tales. There are many plots that are repeated, and it would not be advisable to read the entire series through continuously, or even many books one after another. But this a small matter, and compared to, say, the Enid Blyton books, these are more 'serious literature', and far less manipulative. They are better than the Jennings books, I think. The dialogue is especially lovely - William loves to talk, and his logic is terrific when he is defending his actions. Over fifty years these books have delighted me.
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