Reviews

A fairy tale written by John Ruskin in two sittings for a young girl. A wonderful tale with a clear strong moral. Perhaps, I should call it more of a fable. This one is short, only 5 chapters.. available for free on Kindle and also as a librivox recording. Check comments below for the links to each. The young girl it is written for becomes his wife years later.. and the book becomes a classic. I never read this as a child.. but I am sure it is one that my children will remember. A wonderful introduction to Ruskin for anyone who enjoys a nice story.

“There is no wealth but life.”
― John Ruskin, The King of the Golden River

laurenjpegler's review against another edition

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1.0

I didn’t like this; I wasn’t engaged with the story (had to find a summary online because I just didn’t take any of the story in, despite it being so simple) and wasn’t interested in the characters or their journey to find the Golden River.

Also find it weird that Ruskin wrote this for an 11 year old (when he was 20 something) who he later married. Hmmm weird.

ozielbispo's review against another edition

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5.0

Três Irmãos vivem e são donos de um Vale fértil com muitas riquezas onde nunca a fome ou a miséria conseguiu entrar, mesmo que as localidades circunvizinhas estivessem passando por apuros, ali sempre abundava a prosperidade. Mas 2 irmãos são maus e um bom , quem prosperará ?

coysquirrel's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a classic children's story with a great moral. It's a quick read and enjoyable for adults as well.

mat_tobin's review against another edition

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3.0

A rather quaint yet rich in vocabulary collection of fairy tales edited by the great John Ruskin. The main story itself, which takes up almost half the book is Ruskin's own 'The King of the Golden River' which I felt did not do the best job of donning the mantle of seeming like a traditional tale but I couldn't argue with how well he rights. The language may be too rich for some but nevertheless it opens the reader and listener to a wonderful vocabulary.
The rest of the book consists of retellings of myths and fairy tales with, I felt, the better retelling being The Golden Apples of Lough Erne 'told from traditional sources'.

kelsielynnhartley's review against another edition

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5.0

All children’s books should be written after such a witty and beautiful fashion! The words are huge and the sentences complicated, yet the kids are still gripped by the entertaining story and don’t miss a beat. And I enjoyed every second as well!

poplartears's review against another edition

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4.0

The title of the first chapter is "How the Agricultural System of the Black Brothers was Interfered with by the Southwest Wind, Esquire" and so I wasn't sure how well this title would be received by Ashlyn. She loved it! She couldn't put it down and kept wanting to read more and more. I truly expected groaning or complaining and instead she said it was and awesome book. I am going to have to read it now just so I can understand why she enjoyed it so much.

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