Marianne Dreams: 1 (Faber Children's Classics)

Found it at last!!!!........the Internet can be a wonderful for tracking things down. Marianne's dreams indeed.Marianne Dreams is a story that was read out to our class when we were 10, via a radio programme that had been utilised as part of the syllabus at the school I was attending. This was accompanied by some of the more spooky musical passages from Bela Bartok and voice overs for the spoken parts of the two children the story is about. The only snag was...for some reason we never got to hear the last installment. It was never clear whether the children did manage to reach sanctuary after all, not what happened after that.So now I finally did get to find out what happened to Marianne and Mark.Readers might remember that Marianne had got herself and the boy into a bit of a fix. They are besieged by evil, sentient stones with eyes called the Watchers outside the house they inhabit via each other's dreams. The Watchers are most definitely to 'get' them, but will the children regain the health and strength they need to escape and make their way to the lighthouse, where the Watchers won't be able to get them?It all started when Marianne becomes ill with a mysterious throat infection, meaning she has to endure at least six weeks of total bed rest - or experience worse debilitation in the future. Naturally very bored and frustrated with this predicament, she passes the time by drawing with a special pencil she discovers. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that she can end up dreaming what she has drawn.............so the lonely house in the prairie needs a knocker for the door, stairs for the house so the boy she draws can come down and answer it, though as it turns out he has polio and can't anyway.Marianne does not get on all that well with Mark at first. Not surprisingly, he objects to the idea that he may only part of Marianne's imagination and in fact, Marianne's governess does make it clear that there really is a real Mark outside Marianne's dreams. That both realise the magic is actually in the pencil only happens after an angry row and the damage has been done - after Marianne created the Watchers, whilst upset. Driven by remorse, Marianne now realises that she and Mark will have to work together and be nicer to each other if they are to undo what has been put in place.That there can great magic in the power of suggestion and that this has less to do with egotistical solipsism is skilfully handled in this children's classic. It is not clear that Mark will ever be truly well again, or even survive at all, and it does seem as though only he faith of a special friend could help there. Having said that this story is incredibly spooky in its way - ten is probably, exactly the right age in which this novel can be enjoyed without the child either finding it too much like a fairy tale to be outgrown, or too scary to be read without causing too many nightmares.The language used is a little dated in places 'beastly' is somewhat overused, for example. Otherwise I would say that Marianne Dreams has certainly withstood the test of time.

I read this book in primary school and enjoyed it. My sister is called Marianne so this copy of the book is a gift for her

Ten-year-old Marianne is confined to bed after an illness which leaves her feeling weak and unhappy. Rummaging through her great-grandmother’s old mahogany work box one day, she finds an attractive little indelible pencil which she takes an immediate liking to and decides is “one of those pencils that is simply asking to be written or drawn with.” Finding her sketchpad, she draws a four square house standing in a garden with a fence around it, and when she later falls asleep, she is surprised to find herself standing outside the house she has drawn but unable to get in. Once awake, Marianne draws a boy’s face at one of the upstairs windows and a way for her to enter the house so that she can speak to the boy. And when Marianne falls asleep again, she is amazed to find herself back at the house and having a conversation with the boy whose name is Mark. Marianne soon learns that Mark has had polio and is unable to walk due to the wasted muscles in his legs, so Marianne later draws a bicycle for him to exercise on. However, before that happens, Marianne (for reasons that I won’t go into), becomes very upset with Mark and to punish him, she angrily draws bars over the windows of the house and, outside of the house, she draws several large, ugly boulders to which she gives each a single eye. When Marianne goes back to the house in her dreams, she is horrified to find that what she has drawn has appeared just as she drew it and that she and Mark are held prisoner in the house which is now surrounded by evil, menacing stones who are watching their every move and intent on doing them harm. Will Marianne try to save Mark, who is still unable to walk properly? Or will she escape from her dream to the safety of her own bed and try to forget about the terrible situation she has created?First published in 1958 and read (and reread) by me as a child in the 1970s, Catherine Storr’s ‘Marianne Dreams’ was a book that kept me totally gripped from beginning to end, and one which I found both frightening and impossible to put down - and as I read this for the first time whilst in bed recovering from being unwell myself, I became totally caught up in Marianne’s story. Having just reread this, I find it difficult to disassociate myself from how I felt when reading it as a child and to experience it now with fresh eyes; however, what I can say is that Catherine Storr captures particularly well Marianne’s feeling of disorientation and frustration with being kept in bed, and also how Marianne comes to the realisation that as she has created the situation Mark finds himself in, it is up to her to help him to escape from it. I also enjoyed the way that the author blended Marianne’s real life with her ‘fantasy’ life and, although the story didn’t naturally have quite the same effect on me now as it did all those years ago, I still found this an absorbing and enjoyable read and one which provided me with a lovely feeling of nostalgia.4 Stars.

Just as wonderful as when i first read it 50 years ago. Imaginative and realistic at the same time. Totally believable characters. Excellent!

A strange tale of childhood illness and that time of life when magic is still possible. A little girl in a comfortable middle-class home is confined to bed for some time and begins to explore both the real world of relationships and a dream world which begins to overlap and influence reality in an unsettling way. The dream world has strange and sinister overtones which begin to reach into reality. Although the ending is rather tame, the atmosphere built up during the development of the story is quite eerie and uncanny in a way seldom seen in children's books. One can understand how this book became so popular as to spawn a TV series and even a film in later years. The strange tension between the comfortable setting of home life and the contrasting bleakness of the dream brings to mind M R James's ghostly tales with their settled studious gentlemen who suddenly come up against something impossible and yet somehow indisputably and frighteningly real.

This is one of my favourite children's books. The characterisation of Marianne as she develops from a judgemental child to a more nuanced level of maturity is very well done. The fantasy presents both moral and emotional issues and develops to a touching closure. To say more would probably involve spoilers, but this is a very original novel, with traditional touches to what is, perhaps, more of a surrealist novel than a fantasy novel. Marianne herself is not as sophisticated as many children are now, but the fundamentals never change.

No violence but a wee bit scary!I found a wonderful show on YouTube called "Escape Into Night" - a six-part, 30-minute per part "children's" show made by ATV/ITV in the UK back in the early 1970s. I loved it so much I bought the DVD! Then, wanting to read the book upon which the show was based, I bought the book. It's a nice read - a wonderful fantasy about a young girl whose dreams "come to life" while she is confined to bed, recovering from an illness. I actually bought the book for my nephew. I did a bit of research and discovered it was recommended for 6th grade (US) and up. My nephew is entering the 3rd grade but I think he's up to it. If you miss the days of thoughtful, intelligent children's literature, you'll enjoy it - regardless of your age.I recommend you read the book first. Then, watch the UK television series. Do not waste your time with the theatrical film. I haven't seen it but from what I have read, it is nothing like the book!

I found this book after searching for it for about 30 years. ( give or take) I had read it as a youngster and it haunted me for years. Now that I have become an artist it was a revelation to find that that it was probably an influence in choosing to become involved in the world of art. How weird is that! I could not remember the title. I thought it might have been 'the magic pencil' or something like that. I put a search out on the net and found several people who remembered the book and brought the correct title to my attention. At last I have a copy in my personal library.It was interesting to read it as an adult. A totally different understanding than a ten year old impressionable girl but well worth the effort to find it again. Still love it!

Catherine Storr(キャサリン ストー）著、マリアンヌの夢。小学５、６年以上。英語は平易で英文も短くニューベリー賞作品よりさらに易しく感じる。SSS書評サイトによればYL6.0、総語数54,000Marianneは病気にかかりベッドに寝たきりになってしまう。家庭教師のChesterfield先生に教わる日が続く。マリアンヌは夢を見るが、家で書いた絵が夢の中で現実となる。男の絵を書いたところMarkという少年が夢の中に現れるようになる。しかし楽しいことばかりでなく、マリアンヌの病気に対する不安の気持ちや、妬みの感情から夢の中に恐ろしい存在が出現し、二人に襲い掛かるようになる。だんだんと明かされる夢の秘密と二人がどうなるかが気になる異色のファンタジー。じわじわとにじみ出る恐怖や不安との闘いは、心理小説に通じるものがある。負の面だけでなくMarianne自信が生み出した存在が重苦しい雰囲気を作る中、少年Markとのやり取りは心温まる。児童小説としても内面の負の感情をを描いたい本作は意義のあるものであると思うし、大人が読んでも興味深い。ラストのシーンは希望を示唆する終わり方で後味が悪いものでもない。児童書を読んで感動的なお話しに少し飽きを感じたら読んでみるものいいかもしれない。続編に「海の休暇」。いずれ挑戦したい、と思ったら絶版でした。

I started reading this book as a child, perhaps 55 years ago. For some reason I got only as far as about 1/4 the way through. I would occasionally remember part of the plot, Marianne drawing things that showed up later in her dream, but forgot the book's title. Lately I happened to remark about the book's plot to my wife, and it turned that she had read the book as a child, and clued me in to the title and the author! I ordered the Kindle version and just tonight finished it! I have to say that the book was worth the wait; I have greatly enjoyed the adventure. Too bad the author is no longer with us -- I should like to have sent her a fan letter thanking here for the book!

I wanted to read this as it's the basis for the film Paperhouse which is a favorite I've seen several times. Though I see them as very different I think they are both successful, with the book possibly having a bit more layered subtexts. Highly recommend even for adults.