It's impressive for a children's book published in 1922 to hold out so well, but there's a timeless quality to the Just William stories. They are about the joy of boyhood, about how impossible it is to conciliate it with the adult way of thinking. William Brown is a surprisingly modern young hero. One would expect such a series of books from that past time to try to teach something to their young readers, to give them some moral lesson. Not so with Just William. As a boy, I immediately detected that these books were not trying to sell me anything, that William was genuine. He was rude, untidy and utterly impossible in the adults' eyes, but as a boy I understood him very well. To borrow some words from The Prince of Tides, he is "brave, defiant, not for sale". Stuck forever in his literary universe at the age of eleven, he is like a Peter Pan immune to the attempts of the adults in his life to civilize him.

Like some of the best children's fiction, it still works well when reading it as an adult. Richmal Crompton's humor still works a century later. You appreciate the fond parody of the adult world more, while still being able to appreciate William's boyish spirit. I hope these books will not be forgotten, because they deserve a place among the classics of children literature. ( )

3.5* Kara Shallenberg did an excellent job narrating this book about 11-year-old William. In particular, I liked the pace of her narration. ( )

Brilliant - I well remember laughing my socks off at these stories when I was about 11. If you can't get a laugh out of these too, there is almost certainly something seriously wrong with you.

It is remarkable how Richmal Crompton manages to capture the mindset of a young boy. ( )

I've read Just William several times, but I've never reviewed it, thinking perhaps it was too familiar (at least to British readers). But Just William is a book that makes me laugh out loud consistently, and not just me: I remember we listened to the audio version (wonderfully narrated by Martin Jarvis) on a journey through France many years ago and Mr SandDune having to stop the car because he was laughing so much that he couldn't safely drive. (Incidentally, the story 'The Show' in this book is the one that prompted that.)

William Brown is 11. He is always 11 (despite the first book being written in 1922 and the last in 1970). He lives with his very long-suffering mother, his bewildered father, and his much more grown-up siblings Ethel and Robert (and a cook and a housemaid and a gardener as well) in a small town somewhere in the South of England. William doesn't exactly mean to be bad, at times he has a definite sense of morality, but in practice everything William touches turns to chaos. He just doesn't understand the adult world and the adult world, especially the genteel middle-class world inhabited by the Browns, most definitely does not understand him.

In 'A Question of Grammar' William persuades himself that his father has given permission for him to have a party when his family is out:

'The party then proceeded.

It fulfilled the expectations of the guests that it was to be a party unlike any other party. At other parties they played "Hide and Seek”—with smiling but firm mothers and aunts and sisters stationed at intervals with damping effects upon one’s spirits, with “not in the bedrooms, dear,” and “mind the umbrella stand,” and “certainly not in the drawing-room,” and “don’t shout so loud, darling.” But this was Hide and Seek from the realms of perfection. Up the stairs and down the stairs, in all the bedrooms, sliding down the balusters, in and out of the drawing-room, leaving trails of muddy boots and shattered ornaments as they went! Ginger found a splendid hiding-place in Robert’s bed, where his boots left a perfect impression of their muddy soles in several places. Henry found another in Ethel’s wardrobe, crouching upon her satin evening shoes among her evening dresses. George banged the drawing-room door with such violence that the handle came off in his hand. Douglas became entangled in the dining-room curtain, which yielded to his struggles and descended upon him and an old china bowl upon the sideboard. It was such a party as none of them had dreamed of; it was bliss undiluted. The house was full of shouting and yelling, of running to and fro of small boys mingled with subterranean murmurs of cook’s rage.'

Recommended for all ages - as long that is as you don't expect your children's fiction to have an improving quality! ( )

First off in the version i read there seemed to be a chapter out of order, i would read the chapter titled 'Jumble' after 'The Show' for maximum making sense :) .

There's nothing new under the sun. In terms of old english characters while Billy Bunter is distinctly Eric Cartman, William Brown is very much Bart Simpson, (maybe a a tiny bit less evil though).

Its episodic fare nothing in the way of overarching story but the humour really doesn't age, its good stuff. Not much else to say really, a little bit more personality for his brother and sister might have been nice but otherwise just solid ageless annoying child tales. ( )