The Wind on the Moon (New York
Review Childrens Collection) by Eric
Linklater
A Fun Romp With Two Very Naughty Girls
In the English village of Midmeddlecum, Major Palfrey asks his two
daughters to behave while he is off at war. Sighs daughter Dinah, I think
that we are quite likely to be bad, however hard we try not to be. Sure
enough, Dinah and her sister Dorinda soon settle down to mischief. They
convince a judge that minds must be changed as often as socks, stage an
escape from the local zoo (thanks to a witchs potion which turns them into
kangaroos), and - in the company of a golden puma and silver falcon - set
off to rescue their father from the wicked tyrant of Bombardy. A tale of
hilarity and great adventure, The Wind on the Moon is also a work of
seriousness; after all, life without freedom, as the valiant puma makes
clear, is a poor, poor thing.

Personal Review: The Wind on the Moon (New York Review
Childrens Collection) by Eric Linklater
"When there is wind on the moon, you must be very careful how you
behave. Because if it is an ill wind and you behave badly, it will blow
straight into your heart, and then you will behave badly for a long time to
come." These words uttered by Major Palfrey, Dinah and Dorinda's father,
is a foretelling of a year's worth of naughtiness for the two girls. With their
father gone, they do their best to make mischief as when they try to do
good they end up getting scolded anyway.
First the sisters eat too many pies, steaks and bread to blow themselves
up into the shape of balloons. Then, after the village kids prick them with
pins to see if they would burst, they cried themselves thin. Their real
adventures begin with thoughts of revenge.
With the help of Mrs. Grimble, they bewitch themselves into kangaroos ("I
have often wondered what I shall be when I grow up, whether a teacher of
dancing, or a circus rider, or a mother of ten, but never, never, never did I
expect to be a kangaroo."). With kicks, leaps and bounds they terrify the
village people. But their rampage is short-lived. Lassoed by the zoo's
owner and caretaker, they are caged and tended as other zoo animals.
Here, they solve the mystery of lost Ostrich eggs and free two beasts who
become their loyal friends.
Their appetite for naughtiness and cleverness whetted, they turn their
attention to freeing their beloved dancing teacher from the county jail. All
this is just preparation for the greatest escape adventure of all, rescuing
their father from the castle dungeons of a far country.
Eric Linklater's humor shines and the plot zigs and zags unexpectedly.
Dorinda and Dinah will be the envy of any child who yearns to take their
naughtiness to a higher level.
Caution: Some sentiments in the book may be offensive to some: that fat
people are ugly or a person whose face is blackened by dirt looks like a
'negro'.
Overall it is a fun romp with two very naughty girls. Just one thing boggles
this reader's mind: Why doesn't their mother ever notice them missing for
days or weeks at a time?
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