Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11589 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

The doors of time
This is probably one of the first "time slip" books written for children and was itself first published nearly 70 years ago. It is the story of Penelope, a girl from the early 20th century with "too much imagination" who is sent to stay with her great-aunt in an ancient Derbyshire manor house. Penelope finds herself slipping back in time via doors in the house, to join the inhabitants of the 1580s, the time of Elizabeth 1st and Mary Queen of Scots.

"A Traveller in Time" is a wonderful, almost perfect book. There are the beautiful descriptions of the English countryside through all the seasons, so well-written that you can almost smell the hay or the honeysuckle. There are the well-drawn characters and authentic language of country folk across the centuries. There is the exciting and historically accurate plot: Penelope becomes involved with the Babington family - Anthony Babington was executed for treason and conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth. And there is the philosophical question of the nature of time itself.

All these elements are beautifully woven together in a satisfying book which stays with you long after you have finished it. Highly recommended to children from nine or ten upwards and to adults who welcome a change from today's bestseller list.

The most enchanting book for children ever
Did you ever stand in an ancient place almost hearing the voices of the past, did you ever long to be part of a magical adventure? 'A Traveller in Time' takes readers to the time of Mary Queen of Scots: beautiful language, evocative descriptions, magic, drama are all crafted in this wonderful tale.
I lost a treasured copy and searched for another only to find it out of print, well done Jane Nissen books for restoring a national treasure.

A book every child should read. Essential KS2 reading
Whilst staying in an old Derbyshire farm a young girl is drawn into the past and becomes embrioled in the doomed plot to free Mary Queen of Scots.
A great classic along with books such as A Little White Horse (The Secrets of Moonacre) and A Secret Garden
I read this book as a child, re-read it as an adult and have had the joy of sharing it with my own chidren. It is a book that should be on every school and library shelf, in the posession of every KS2 teacher as it brings to life both history and imagination, superbly crafted and beautiful; it was the book that first fired my imagination as a child and is still a joy to read.