Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian
On the brink of World War 2, a small boy is evacuated from his London home with an abusive mother to the English countryside. At first, he is terrified of everything, including the gruff and prickly old man he is placed with.
Gradually Willie forgets the despair of his former life and forms a close friendship with Mr Tom. Until one day a telegram arrives and Willie must go home to his mother…
This is a fantastic book to read aloud to a class learning about war from the point of view of a child, but be warned, you will all cry!
shelf1ife 
What I really love about this is that even though its a war story, the underlying story is one of humanity and kindness. I would love to read this aloud with a year six class!
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Hooked from the very beginning, I could not put this book down and wanted very much to keep on reading. A great book to contextualise World War II and to reflect on children who suffer at the hands of abuse; be prepared to feel emotional when reading this story.
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When re-reading this book, it brought back the memories of my childhood reading. It really hits home when you discover the child (Will) who is abused by his single mother, he is then evacuated out of his home to meet a sturn old man (Mr. Tom). As you read the book Mr. Tom begins to show unconditional love and support to Will. This gives the underlining message that unconditional love and kindness doesn’t have to come from true family, but love and support can blossom from a complete stranger. I feel this book could be used an upper key stage two class depending on the maturity they have and would be a great stimulus for a WW1 project.
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I remember reading this as a class when I was at school. The novel is so beautifully written it’s truly difficult to not be taken by it. Though as with the entire topic of world wars, it should be approached with care. I remember one of my fellow pupils became very upset when we watched a part of the film adaptation. Re reading this over the summer made me realise however just how versatile the novel is. It’s rich with topic, not simply war, but friendship, identity, resilience etc. All of which are more than relatable and thus wonderfu discussion points for upper ks2 pupils!
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I first read this in year six, seventeen years ago, and it has stayed with me since then. I am still moved in the same way now when I have read it more recently. It is such a powerful book, which brings the challenges of World War II to life through the lives of the characters. Children can relate to the child characters in the book and recognise differences and similarities in their lives. It is a fantastic resource in not only learning about evacuation, but in addressing and discussing distressing and challenging topics. Alongside this, it also provides hope in these darker times by the uplifting story of the love for the young child. A fantastic, hard hitting and difficult to forget novel; still standing as one of my favourites.
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This has always been one of my favourite books from the first time I read it aged 9 or 10, and every time since. It was amazing to read it again as an adult and really be able to take in everything that young Willie Beech goes through, and all the fantastic characters he meets along the way. Though set in World War 2, this book is not, for me, about the war. It is far more importantly about human nature, the way in which people can display such love and kindness to those they don’t know, and sadly how those who should be the most loving are capable of being the least so. I love to watch the transformations of Willie and Mr Tom throughout this novel, how they both grow as people and grow together, it’s incredibly special how Michelle Magorian has captured that so beautifully in characters that come alive in the pages. I’ve not seen this book used in the classroom yet, but I will certainly share it with year five and six classes, being sure to handle the topics involved carefully. This book lends itself not only to work in literacy and history, but also opens up many discussions for PSHE and RE that children in year five and six would really engage in.
It will be interesting for me to see the reaction of children of this age to the story outside of the classroom, while rehearsing for the play. We are prepared for tears, and I’m sure there will be discussion and chats amongst the cast in the more hard-hitting moments of the story.
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