An Equinox edition. Companion to The golden agebag sale ( )

Various episodes in the lives of five children.

3/4 (Good).

I hadn't realized this was a sequel, so I was initially a little put off by how it jumped in without bothering to orient the reader. It didn't take me long to settle in, though. The stories seem trivial on the surface, but Grahame tells them in a way that gives them poetry and gravity. I think one or two of them are going to stick with me. (Weirdly, the Reluctant Dragon, which is a cartoonish fairytale and out of place in this book, is not one of them.) ( )

Author Kenneth Grahame's works include "Winnie the Pooh" and The "Wind in the Willows." This 1930's book was illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. Source Book Flap: ""Dream Days" is alive with memories of the author's boyhood, [peopled by] a troupe of clever and imaginative youngsters."

A nostalgic look back at childhood imagination. I wasn't thrilled with these stories at first, but they grew on me. ( )

4 1/2 stars.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the Penrod books by Booth Tarkington. It has the same exuberant, joyful respect for the innocence and seriousness of bygone childhood imagination. And if the last story doesn't choke you up just a little, you have neither heart nor soul and should just go back to your "Twilight" collection. ( )