James Ramsey UllmanBanner in the Sky: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

Banner in the Sky rates among the top adventure books ever written and is in a style that is tightly composed, gets promptly to the point, and provides realistic and exciting descriptions. This marvelous book rates with the likes of the writings of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, S. Crane, etc. in its presentation and impact.As a newspaper editor who examines millions of words of text each year, I give Banner in the Sky a solid five stars as the best I have read thus-far this year. It is funny how I, at age 58, had never heard of the book except through accidentally watching Third Man On The Mountain (Disney)on TV recently. The movie was astounding, among Disney's greatest work. I have always been a big Disney fan, too, and even wear a Mickey Mouse watch and wedding ring and did not know that movie existed.Long story short, both are superb. The love interest in the movie is not in the book, which does not detract from it at all. In fact, both the book and the movie are must-see, must-read items for me. I will be re-reading the book and I have already in the past two months seen the movie 18 times.

Excellent book! Years ago I saw "Third Man on the Mountain" which was Disney's version of this book. Loved the movie and don't know why I never got around to reading this. It's SO much better than the movie which was "Diseynified" with the inclusion of a girl and, of course, some lame singing while skipping through the flowers. Too bad, because this is a heck of a good adventure story about a young man coming of age, finding his place and proving himself to his family and friends. Very descriptive, lots of tension and well-defined characters. Haven't finished it yet and I look forward to seeing whether or not Disney changed the ending. I'm enjoying it immensely. A great read for young boys and girls (even adults) who enjoy a good adventure story.

One of my first reads back in the mid-fifties. Was so enthralled by the story that I went to see the Matterhorn near Zermatt, Switzerland in 1962. I took the cable car up to the ski lodge then hikedup as far as I dared, wearing penny loafer shoes. Met a lady there wlho was going to climb the mountain the following day and her guide Vic Andermatt. Later I saw the movie "Third Man on the Mountain" and now I own the DVD. In 2005 I met a man at the airport in Anchorage whose name was Andermatt. He was from Zermatt and I asked him if he'd known the guide - "He's my Uncle". Last week I got the book on Amazon and read it again. Now I'm all hyped about going over there again and experiencing the most beautiful mountain in the world. I'm almost 80, so that ain't gonna happen. Maybe I'll just read Banner in the Sky a few more times and watch the DVD as well.

Now that my children are too old for children's story books but I still love to read to them, I am always looking for good reads. This book did not disappoint. The vocabulary and themes would've been too advanced for them to read on their own (ages 9 and 12) yet was understandable enough for me to use as a teaching tool. We all enjoyed reading it and exploring the themes.

I read this book in 4th grade for school and LOVED it. Later I gave it to my little brother when he was in 6th grade and we had a lot of trouble finding books that would hold his attention enough for them to be worth the effort for him to read them. This was one of the first "breakthrough" books that helped him really start to read fluently.

The Disney movie, Third Man on the Mountain, was based on this book, so I had to read it. Excellent read. While the movie had extra plot line, characters--the book goes into the thoughts and feelings of this young man who is going to climb the mountain that his father died on. The memorable moments for me were when he took shelter in the cave his father died in while heroically trying to keep his friend from freezing. And the prayer of course that drove away the terrors of the mountain. The local climbers believed that demons ruled that mountain.

Assigned for my 7th graders summer project.

Book is in excellent condition. No complaints.