Best Children's Book Ever!

Last week Amazon was offering David and the Phoenix by Edward Ormondroyd for 99 cents, so I grabbed it before they changed the price. The best thing is that this electronic version comes with the original illustrations, which are excellent. I bought it on EBay used a few years ago. I couldn't find the copy I had a s a kid, and I had a need to read the book again. When it arrived, the memories were so thick, you could brush them away with your hand (Thank you, Terence Mann). It had the same yellow cover with the picture of the phoenix on the front:

You can also read the entire book through Project Gutenberg here, complete with illustrations, starting with:
 
Chapter 1: In Which David Goes Mountain Climbing and a Mysterious Voice is Heard

The author, like my father, served on a Destroyer Escort ship during World War II.  I have looked at other books of his, but none are as magical as this one. 


Purple House Press calls it, "A wonderful read-aloud book, adventurous and very funny, with much of the magic as well as the humor of the fantastic."

A review on Amazon says,

This is THE book! This is the book that made this boy fall in love with reading over 40 years ago. This book was my first love. This book has never left my memory. It is as though I read it yesterday. This is the book which filled this 10 year-old with wonder and thrills.

I couldn't have said it better myself and if I end up with grandkids in my future, I will be playing the part of Peter Falk as I read this to them.

Now I just have to find the other book I read over and over as a kid, Champion Dog Prince Tom.