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Summary: Charming Story With an Unlikely Hero
Review: "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" is a charming children's story about a donkey family, the Duncans, and their son Sylvester who has an insatiable urge to collect pebbles of unusual shape and color. Life is just fine for the Duncans until Sylvester finds a magic pebble that grants wishes. Sylvester gets very excited after finding out by trial and error in a very childlike way that his latest pebble grants wishes. He rushes home to tell his parents and bumps into a lion on the way home. Being a young donkey, he has no idea how to wish himself out of danger with the lion so he wishes to... One of the story's biggest surprises is that Sylvester's big wish to save himself from the lion is very to predict. I certainly, as an adult, would never have guessed what Sylvester wished for to save himself from the lion. I picked up a very inexpensive soft cover edition of this book as a gift for the little boy I home-school. He has severe seizures that doctors haven't figured out how to control yet with medication. As a result he can't attend school and must be home-schooled until they find medications that can control his seizures. In addition, he is a Ukrainian immigrant who has been here less than a year so he is an LEP (Limited English Proficiency) student. I relate this information because it does relate to my book review since he was the child I purchased the book. Being that my student relies upon me, his home-school teacher, for his entire link to schooling, education, and English training, I needed a book that: 1. Was well illustrated to keep a child's interest who didn't understand many of the words.
2. Had a touching story that made both of us thoughtful (and could cheer him up as well).
3. Had appropriate language for a child still in the developing stages of learning English.
4. Could somehow be relevant to the life of a child stuck at home with illness. "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" was everything I asked for. The Duncans are a loving donkey family in the story and their love for another comes through in both the writing and illustrations. Both my student and I enjoyed the story and we're still reading it until my student will be able to read it on his own (He's getting closer too!). I don't want to give away the story, but Sylvester wishes himself into a rock to escape the lion. Unfortunately as a rock, Sylvester couldn't make more wishes with the rock to return to being a donkey boy. The rest of the story relates how Sylvester felt as a rock, how his parents missed him and searched for him, and how Sylvester eventually returns to being a donkey boy again. My student related Sylvester being a rock to being stuck at home with seizures. The language, while at an intermediate to advanced level of English fluency, was appropriate with a little scaffolding (a fancy education term that means preparing the student with vocabulary and new concepts). Both my student and I loved "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble." I highly recommend "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" to parents and children. It's a charming story that's innovative and distinctive from others. Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan
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Summary: How is Sylvester going to get back to being a normal donkey?
Review: A children's book for ages 4 to 8 about a donkey named Sylvester who finds a magic pebble which can grant his every wish. Unfortunately, he changes himself into a rock after being freightened by a lion and he can't change himself back without the help from someone else. His family and friends miss him greatly. One has to be very careful when one has unlimited power (or, ability to have one's wishes granted). Many rulers have fallen into that trap! This book won the 1970 Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in a book for children. Children have always loved this story.
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Summary: Do you believe in magic (pebbles)?
Review: A worrisome tale wrought with sorrow and, ultimately, joy. But, just the same, a worrisome tale. In this classic Steig work, a young donkey comes across a magic pebble. The pebble is round and smooth and a brilliant red. Entranced by it, Sylvester finds that he can wish for whatsoever he chooses and instantly receive it. Overjoyed he turns for home, but finds himself confronting a hungry lion. In his haste and fear, Sylvester accidentally wishes he were a rock. Unfortunately, this wish works but leaves Sylvester trapped in his new rocky form. And when his parents look for him high and low and cannot find him, Sylvester is believed to be forever lost. But as I said, all turns out well in the end. This story is somewhat heart-wrenching to parents. Certainly the kids that read it will understand how sad Sylvester would be to potentially never return home again. And parents reading this will be overwhelmed with the emotions involved with the loss of a child. Perhaps this story won the 1970 Caldecott medal because it does go so far as to directly touch on this most sensitive of topics. At the same time, this may be a kids book but it's too much for me. Silly, isn't it? I can zip through William Styron's "Sophie's Choice" and have a grand old time, but "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" reduces me to a pile of wobbling jello. Enjoy with caveats galore.
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Summary: Cute book, award-winning illustrations
Review: First off, I would like to indicate that the Caldecott award was given for the illustrations in this book, not the writing. I think it's very misleading that sellers of this book just indicate it received a Caldecott but leave out the fact that it's for the illustrations and not the content of the book. I didn't realize that award was given for illustrations before I had children and I feel I was mislead by the bookseller.
That said, this is a cute book about a donkey who finds the "magic" pebble and turns himself into a stone. I don't think it's appropriate reading for a toddler below age four. It's pretty sad to see the poor thing sitting there as a rock, unable to change himself back to a donkey. But, wishing for things that are not practical is the major emphasis of this book. Being content with what you have and what you are is the basic storyline. It's cute, but I think there are better books out there to emphasize such topics and are not quite as stressful for little ones to read and enjoy.
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Summary: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Review: I am a granma to 3 beautiful grandaughters and when my children where little my middle son's teacher read him this book at school he was so touched by it that when i saw an article on william steig and realised that it was the same author who has since written shrek i determined to purchase this wonderful book for my grandchildren who i must say have enjoyed it as much as my children did. A wonderful story teaches children that its not always pleasant to get what you wish for and sometimes its just nice to be grateful for what you've got.
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Summary: Cute Little Story
Review: I am a student at West Virignia State College taking Children's Literature. As part of our assignment, we were to read a Caldecott Award Winning Book and write our personal review. I thought the book was adorable! It was a cute story and I am confident that small children would enjoy this book. The artwork is bright and vivid and tells the story right along with the words. It could be used as tool to teach children about wishing for things that we want is not always good for us. The choice of words used in the story was ones that allow opportunity to teach new vocabulary words or new ideas to younger children. Some examples are ceased, perplexed, bewildered, and frantic.
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Summary: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Review: I loved this book when I was a child. The story is awesome and the pictures are so cute. A great book.
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Summary: My granddaughters adore this book!
Review: My granddaughters, now ages 7 and 9, have adored this book for 3 or 4 years. Something some of you may not remember or know: when it was first published, there was some controversy about the illustrations. Why? Well, all the characters in the story are animals, and the police were portrayed as PIGS. (Those of you who remember the 60s-70s may remember this less-than-affectionate term for our police officers.) I remember this well because I was a children's librarian at the time. OF COURSE I read the book to the kids! And they loved it! I'm sure Mr. Steig had no intention of making a disparaging political statement! The story is thrilling for little ones - they worry how on earth Sylvester will get that pebble back and be reunited with his parents. It's a very reassuring, affirmative statement about the love of family (and being careful what you wish for).
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Summary: I loved this as a kid
Review: Someone wrote that this book is too depressing. I beg to differ.
I'm not a professional child psychologist, but looking back on my own experience, and how much I loved this book as a child, I think children have very powerful feelings all the time, including longing and sadness. It's comforting to see those feelings described and reflected outside yourself. If adults act like the whole world is happy-happy all the time, it can feel very lonely and isolating when you have other feelings. I would venture to guess that empathizing with characters in stories helps children develop a sense of connection between their own feelings and other people's feelings. This connection makes us feel less lonely and also allows us to be genuinely caring toward others.
I can still see, in my mind's eye, the picture of Sylvester the Rock under a blanket of snow, and feel the almost unbearable empathy that I felt for him when I read this book as a child. But it was a good feeling to feel such profound emotions. It was not unpleasant--it was very real, alive, and human--it made me feel connected with the world. And it was a safe place to feel these emotions, because I knew how the story ended, I knew everything would be okay.
I loved this book very much. I wonder if I still have it...
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Summary: If Wishes Were Things, Where Would We Be?
Review: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble won the Caldecott Medal as the best illustrated children's story of 1970. The images stand out for their tender renditions of emotion in the faces and bodies of the animals in the illustrations. Nature is rendered in just as malleable a way to emphasize the changes going on in the story. The story itself is a variation of the familiar theme of the grass being greener on the other side. In typical fashion, that fable theme is carried out here through many trials and tribulations that will help your child appreciate the joys of what otherwise would be consider humdrum. The strength of the story is the way the moral is made more explicit than in most other versions of this theme. This book will never be forgotten by any child who reads it, and should be enjoyed by most children beginning around age 3. Fascination will tend to dull after age 6. Sylvester Duncan (a donkey) lived with his parents. His favorite activity was to collect pebbles of unusual shapes and colors. One rainy Saturday during vacation, he was alone when he found a quite extraordinary one. It was "flaming red, shiny, and perfectly round, like a marble." Shivering in the rain, he wished that the sun would come out . . . and it did. The rain stopped so fast, "It CEASED." "It struck him that magic must be at work . . . ." He "guessed that the magic must be in the . . . pebble." He then ran three tests. He started the rain, stopped it again, and got rid of a wart on his left hind fetlock. Excited, he headed back home. He ran into a lion. Startled, he made a wish without thinking. "I wish I were a rock." Well, he succeeded. The lion left. The only trouble was, the pebble fell away from Sylvester. He could no longer hold it to make more wishes come true. He wished away, but still stayed a rock. It was a very dull occupation. His parents were frantic, and started a massive search. Even the dogs could do no good because Sylvester smelled like a rock rather than himself. A year passed slowly. Then through happenstance, the pebble touches Sylvester again. When he wished to be Sylvester again, he changed back in a twinkling! The Duncan family was delighted to be reunited. "Mr. Duncan put the magic pebble in an iron safe." "Some day they might want to use it, but really, for now, what more could they wish for?" "They had all they wanted." As you can see, this story is good for dealing with issues like your child's concerns about losing her or his parents, separation anxiety, the dangers of leaving home, and "magic" based fears. You can provide lots of encouraging reassurance as you read the story, explaining how your child's situation is much different from Sylvester's. The illustrations pick up on the language in the story, so this book will be one of the easier books for you child to learn to read when he or she is around 5 or 6. After you finish the story, I suggest that you ask your child what she or he would wish for if a magic pebble came along. Then talk about how one might obtain something just as good or better through your family's own efforts . . . without the benefit of magic. This can help your child appreciate the magic of mind and spirit within each of us to turn worthwhile wishes into reality. You can point out that this method has an advantage. It never turned anyone into a rock by accident! Touch the magical imagination of your child to create a world of real potential for both of you!
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