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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I can understand why this didn't grab me when I was a child but all I have to say now is 'was he on acid, or what?'
Way funnier than I expected. I might actually go back and read the parts that weren't assigned.
‘The Cat and the Devil’ by James Joyce
‘Tricker the Squirrel meets Big Double the Bear’ by Ken Kesey (favorite!!)
‘Harry, the Fat Bear Spy’ by Gahan Wilson
Even ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ by Ian Fleming
And ‘Rootabaga Stories’. The history of award-winning authors of adult fiction writing a children’s book is long. I found the James Joyce book at my local library in 1992 when I was looking up JJ in the catalog and saw it there. Since then, I pick one up and,if it hits home, I would send a copy to dear friends’ children.
Not this one though, sorry.
‘Tricker the Squirrel meets Big Double the Bear’ by Ken Kesey (favorite!!)
‘Harry, the Fat Bear Spy’ by Gahan Wilson
Even ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ by Ian Fleming
And ‘Rootabaga Stories’. The history of award-winning authors of adult fiction writing a children’s book is long. I found the James Joyce book at my local library in 1992 when I was looking up JJ in the catalog and saw it there. Since then, I pick one up and,if it hits home, I would send a copy to dear friends’ children.
Not this one though, sorry.
My husband and I took turns reading this aloud at night before bed. He had never read this and I read it during AIG in elementary school. It was fun to revisit this because I forgot how funny these stories (poems?) are, especially reading them out loud! I feel like as I've gotten older, the book itself is probably around a 3 star read, but the nostalgia is a solid 4 stars!
If you want to read a book that you will have read after reading a book then this is a book you should read.
When a Pulitzer Prize winner personally recommends that you read a book, you'd better heed it.
Fantastical, lyrical, and poetic. I wish I had read these as a child.
Fantastical, lyrical, and poetic. I wish I had read these as a child.
I got this book as a Goodreads giveaway.
I love fairy tales and was excited to read Carl Sandburg's collection of American fairy tales. However, I found that they lacked the charm of European fairy tales. They were often without a strong narrative or satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed the stories where you got to know a character and follow their journey.
I love fairy tales and was excited to read Carl Sandburg's collection of American fairy tales. However, I found that they lacked the charm of European fairy tales. They were often without a strong narrative or satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed the stories where you got to know a character and follow their journey.
"I hear you talking but it is like a dream talking."
That one line from the second set of short stories perfectly describes this book. It's like a strange dream world with no structure.
There is no character development, no plot, no story line that moves anywhere. There is no tension and no resolution. It's a stream of random ideas, fragments of characters, and odd places. There is a lot of repetition of long phrases in the writing. I didn't even think it was that imaginative or original.
It has some of the same type of whimsical elements as Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz, but without the story structure or development. It also has a fairy tale aspect in the writing, but without the classic moral lesson or struggle between good and evil.
I was very disappointed in this book. It hurt my brain to read it. Punctuation died in this book.
That one line from the second set of short stories perfectly describes this book. It's like a strange dream world with no structure.
There is no character development, no plot, no story line that moves anywhere. There is no tension and no resolution. It's a stream of random ideas, fragments of characters, and odd places. There is a lot of repetition of long phrases in the writing. I didn't even think it was that imaginative or original.
It has some of the same type of whimsical elements as Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz, but without the story structure or development. It also has a fairy tale aspect in the writing, but without the classic moral lesson or struggle between good and evil.
I was very disappointed in this book. It hurt my brain to read it. Punctuation died in this book.
these were some of my favorite whimsical stories growing up and I think about and reference them often
This is a set of stories that belongs on every "read aloud" shelf, right next to all the Dr. Suess books and the Brothers Grimm and all those Little Golden Book collections. Sandburg's prose begs to be heard - reading it to yourself is loses the rhythm and alliteration and all those other poetry tricks that he was a master of. Sandberg wrote these for his children, wanting them to have fairy tales that related to their very American upbringing, and these stories do ring with commerce and expansion and industrialism, but in a way that makes them admirable traits, not something to apologize for.
The two book set I read was beautifully illustrated by [a:Michael Hague|6378|Hans Christian Andersen|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1183230200p2/6378.jpg], a perfect match of author to artist.
The two book set I read was beautifully illustrated by [a:Michael Hague|6378|Hans Christian Andersen|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1183230200p2/6378.jpg], a perfect match of author to artist.