Noah Barleywater Runs Away: A Fairy Tale (review)

Despite being a whole eight years old, Noah Barleywater has done very little to speak of with his life, which is why he sets off from home early one morning in search of a glorious adventure. His departure does not, he insists, have anything to do with the sad thing happening at home that he’d rather not talk about, just to be clear. During his travels, he comes across three towns, the first two offering little more than a magical apple tree and some very rude residents, while the last one is home to a magnificent—albeit slightly creepy—toy shop whose elderly owner invites Noah to join him for lunch. The two exchange life stories and, as one might expect, Noah soon realizes running away is not the answer to his problems and so returns home, just in time to see his mother before she passes away from a terminal illness. Even unsophisticated readers will deduce Noah’s tragedy before this revelation, but all will appreciate the tenderness and compassion with which his grief is treated. The fable-like structure to the story along with the occasional appearance of talking animals adds a comforting bit of whimsy for younger readers; the elevated vocabulary and often unnecessarily complicated wordplay may prove to be too difficult without assistance, though, and there’s basically an adult-appealing flavor to the entire enterprise. As with his Holocaust novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (BCCB 10/06), Boyne tips into didactism, particularly in the closing scenes in which the old man essentially instructs Noah on what to do. Nonetheless, this is still a moving and well-told story that parents may wish to share with their children—potential runaways or not.