The Dark Is Rising - Fantasy Novel for Teens & Adults

I read this to my three kids. We had already read the first book. This book started off very suspenseful and interesting, but it seemed to drag out as it went. I feel it could be much shorter without losing anything important. So much of the writing is descriptive rather than dialogue and that gets really boring to read, especially for kids. Pages and pages without anyone talking, just describing scenery and feelings. It was kind of relief to be done with and I don't think we'll read the third. There are much longer books that hold our interest better, so it's not the length that made us lose interest.