THE RAILWAY CHILDREN: SYNOPSIS

SYNOPSIS

The Railway Children is a wonderful story . The story tells about three children,
Roberta (Bobbie), Peter and Phyllis are living a lovely, secure life at Edgecomb Villa.
Their father returns home after being away on business, two unknown men come to visit
him in the evening after supper, and he simply disappears. Neither the reader nor the
 children know what has happened to him until Bobbie makes a chance discovery and
learns the horrible truth.

In the intervening time, their mother, a capable and charming woman, takes her children to
live in the country near a railway station, because they must "play at being poor for a
while." The children handle their new situation with grace and wit, spending hours hanging
about the railway station and generally keeping themselves busy, and in the process
becoming fast friends with the porter, Perks, and the station master. They also become
acquainted with their own old gentleman who lends a hand to help them time and again.
Bobbie is the eldest and sweetest of the children, with a longing to be truly good. Peter is
the boy, who is madly in love with trains, stubbornly refuses to be pushed around, and
exhibits an extraordinary courage in the rescue of a baby and a young man in a train tunnel.
Phyllis is the youngest, a funny, clumsy child with good intentions that often seem to go
awry.

This sentimental favorite children's book has the moral values of E. Nesbitt, who was a
famous liberal activist (Fabian Socialist) in England. She creates a household utopian
vision of a world where people are naturally good and where parents raise their children to
be helpful and honest and brave.

This provides the background charm for a really lovely tale about a family in distress who
sticks together bravely and provides a shining example to all around them, while being
aided by equally high-minded and kind folks around them.

A knock on the door at the idyllic middle class town home of the children ends with a
tragedy that they can scarcely understand. But Mother is brave and despite rumors of
terrible things, they make their way to a more modest home in the country, next to a railway
line. The children become friends with the trains and the regular commuters who wave at
them. Their fascination with the train results in a heroic rescue. Meanwhile, their situation
is sometimes difficult, and they develop some remarkable strategies for getting aid. There
is a happy ending.

The morals taught to the children are particularly British (helpful, kind, brave) but certainly
apply to us as well. The goodness that the children spread is really a lovely message and
contributes to the charm and longevity of this great story.

GLOSSARY
1. coal (n) this is hard and black and people light it to get heat
2. engine (n) this makes a train or car move
3. piece (n) a small part of a bigger thing
4. repair (v) to make something good again when it breaks
5. Station Master (n) this man is the boss of the station
6. thief (n) this person takes other peoples things
7. tunnel (n) a hole through a hill or under a river for cars and trains to go through
8. wave (v) to hold your arm up and move your hand from left to right
9. blood (n) this is red and is in people and animals
10. gift (n) you give this to someone when it is their birthday
11. prison (n) when people do something bad they have to go to this place and have to stay
there
12. spy (n) this person tells other countries important things about their country
13. signal-box (n) a small house next to the railway line; a man sits in it and tells the trains
Go and Stop.