|
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Aladdin Picture Books) (Paperback) (平装)
by William Steig (Illustrator)
| Category:
Animal Fantasy, Picture books, Ages 4-8, Children's books |
| Market price: ¥ 108.00
MSL price:
¥ 98.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A magic pebble that will grant your every wish! A bliss or a disaster for the little donkey? Kids will never forget this fantasy story with great fun and learning. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 6 items |
|
|
Roz Levine (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-20 00:00>
Sylvester Duncan, a nice little donkey who lives with his mother and father collects pebbles of interesting shapes and colors. One rainy day, he finds a most remarkable bright red, shiny, round pebble on Strawberry Hill and as he examines it, feeling the cold rain on his back, he wishes it would stop raining. And it does. In the blink of an eye, the rain is gone and the sun is shining. Sylvester realizes that he has found a magic pebble, one that grants wishes and he begins to think of all the wonderful things he and his family and friends can wish for to make their lives happier. But at that moment, he looks up and sees a hungry lion looking at him and panics. Instead of wishing that the lion would disappear, he wishes he were a rock. And he becomes a rock. Unfortunately, the magic pebble is lying on the ground next to him, not on him and so even though he wishes and wishes that he were back to his old self again, nothing happens. As summer turns to fall, fall turns to winter and winter to spring, poor Sylvester, the rock, is stuck up on Strawberry Hill, missing his parents and trying to find a way back to his old self... Award winning author and illustrator, William Steig, has written a charming and tender story about the meaning of true happiness, that's perfect for youngsters 4-8. In his very gentle way, he lets children discover that it's not always what you want that will make you happy, but what you already have. This simple, magical text, coupled with his wonderfully expressive cartoon-like artwork will capture children's imaginations as they wait to see if Sylvester will ever find a way to make his most important wish come true, to turn back into his old donkey self and be with his family. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is sure to become a classic and is a story your kids will want to read again and again. |
|
|
Kristin Ferguson (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-20 00:00>
Sylvester can't be beat. The story is so good, even after 30 years, that I buy it for every child I know. The illustrations are beautiful, the colors vivid. The story perfectly piques the interest of a small child, and Sylvester's predicament is tragic -but funny. Perfect suspense. Right down to the fact that in this barnyard world, the police are pigs. Extremely cute and amusing. |
|
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-20 00:00>
William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is one of the greatest picture books yet written. Steig is really the master of the genre.
The story is of Sylvester, who is accidentally turned into a rock by a magic pebble. This horrid situation causes Sylvester and his family to realize the true love they have shared and tosses them into total boredom with life. They have to find a way to get back to one another.
The book is so moving. The pictures are beautiful as is the prose. The story teaches the joy of love that families should share. It can also be read on an even deeper level as a metaphor for death and the redemptive power of love. Overall, this is an entertaining and brilliant book which can pack an enormous punch within its few pages. |
|
|
Eugene Benoit (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-20 00:00>
This is quite a touching story filled with lots of symbolism. It actually hits home for a friend of mine. Her husband did not want to have a child and so she terminated her pregnancy out of great disappointment. The savegery of a lion serves as a symbol for what can take a child donkey away from you. The magic pebble is like God that wisks the donkey child away to safety. The wolf howling on the rock in the middle of winter is suffering from the pains of hunger, hunger to have a child back. You can think especially of a mother's pain when a child is gone and the hunger she has to have him back, sort of, the winter of her discontent. The donkey parents try their best to find joy despite their sadness, and, like in a dream come true, their son, Sylvester, is back. It says that even after a very catastrophic event to not lose hope no matter how terrible it can be. |
|
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-20 00:00>
This was my favorite book when I was little. I read it over and over. Now I am twenty eight and I read it to my two year old son all the time. It is one of his favorites too! |
|
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-03-20 00:00>
One day, Sylvester Duncan, an endearing young burro whose hobby is collecting unusual pebbles, happens upon a truly extraordinary one. Not only is it particularly beautiful, but as Sylvester is soon to discover, it possesses powerful magical properties.
Sylvester's intentions are good and he plans to make use of the power of the pebble to help others. Nevertheless, the use of magic quickly becomes tragic, and Sylvester finds himself in a desperate situation from which escape seems all but impossible.
Reading this book to my daughters, I found myself on an emotional roller coaster ride, as the little donkey is extricated from his plight just as all hope is lost.
This is an excellent book, beautifully illustrated, and clearly deserving of the Caldecott Medal which it won in 1970. |
|
|
|
1 Total 1 pages 6 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
