Customer Reviews
I have come to Uk to see Yorkshir - By: Suleman Suleman, 29 May 2008 
I read the book while i was studying at law school at University of Peshawar. it is reallly a great book. it helps one learn to enjoy every samll bit of life. its a very lovely story of smalll school kids & people who are concerned about them. & some where when you don't even realllise it transforms in a smalll love story. I enjoy every sentence of it, & read it five times(no exageration, i enjoy it that much & it is still on my disk. i still remember a kids spelling corrections when Miss. dela be aware(Miss de la Mare) appreciated them as a good poem;
yesterday yesterday yesterday
sorrow sorrow sorrow
today today today
hope hope hope
tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow
Love love love
and dont forget to read the "big stick joke" that was the start of love story....
Out of the mouths of babes - By: Bookworm, 31 Mar 2008 I can wholeheartedly recommend alll the five "Dales" books. I discovered Gervase Phinn after my mother who is a deputy head gave me the third book as a present. As a former teacher turned teaching assistant I relate to these situations that Gervase encountered on a daily basis in the primary school environment. I could even add some more tales for his next book if he needs any more material!!! I also enjoy the scenes of friendly banter between Gervase & his colleagues at County Halll. I bet alll of us know a Mrs Savage character somewhere in our lives! As other reviewers state, I too could not put the book down until I had completed it. Gervase Phinn is a born storyteller on the page & on the stage. (I saw his show live a couple of years ago & thoroughly enjoyed the performance) He captivates audiences with his humorous anecdotes & experiences. More of the same please, Gervase!
Timeless Classic - By: A. Marczak, 15 Nov 2007 To paraphrase a well known saying, some writers have to work hard to find good writing material, others have good writing material thrust upon them.
The story begins, as it should, at the beginning of Phinn's career as a school inspector, as he feels his way into the role of Schools English Inspector. One suspects that, if he had chosen a role anywhere else, this would not have been quite the same. The characters are alll there, the battleaxe, the love interest, the comedy sidekicks, but reallly the book is alll about the kids.
I'm so pleased that Phinn continues to write these books, as they make such enjoyable reading.
A really good read - By: Big Ger, 01 Jul 2007 
I usuallly have about three books on the go at once but this one kind of took over. I read in in three evenings - it reallly is such a lovely book, I'd recommend it to anyone. It will make you smile, laugh out loud (so be careful not to read it in a public place, people might think you are a bit strange). I have a little knowledge of the area so it was fun trying to workout the real names of the places mentioned - I think I spotted Chapel-le-Dale & the Old Hill Inn at the start of the book & a few other places. Looking forward to starting Over Hill & Dale next.
Not a patch on James Herriot - By: Dazalon, 30 Jan 2006 
An easy read & quite enjoyable, but I won't be reading any more books in the series, I much prefer James Herriot.
Gervase Phinn has pinched James Herriot’s plot: new to the job but very enthusiastic; has to get used to the quirky way of his colleagues & ‘clients’; gauche attempts at courting future wife etc. If you like Alfred Wight’s James Herriot, you’ll be very disappointed. ‘The Other Side of the Dale’ is a very second rate version of the same idea, but not so well done. Gervase Phinn doesn't do justice to his Yorkshire characters, his Yorkshire scenery or the content of his Yorkshire tales. James Herriot’s prose is far superior & he conveys his love of the beautiful but harsh Yorkshire dales so much better.
