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The girl with the green ear : stories about magic in nature / by Margaret Mahy ; illustrations by Shirley Hughes.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : A.A. Knopf, c1992.Description: 97 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 0679822313 :
  • 0679922318 (lib. bdg.)
Subject(s): Genre/Form: LOC classification:
  • PZ7.M2773 Gi 1992
Summary: A collection of nine stories in which characters encounter talking plants, a pine-tree man, a merry-go-round with flying horses, mystical midnight birds, and a cake-eating tree.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Childrens Fiction Davis (Central) Library Children's Fiction Children's Fiction MAH 1 Available T00223011
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A collection of nine stories in which characters encounter talking plants, a pine-tree man, a merry-go-round with flying horses, mystical midnight birds, and a cake-eating tree.

A collection of nine stories in which characters encounter talking plants, a pine-tree man, a merry-go-round with flying horses, mystical midnight birds, and a cake-eating tree.

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Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Despite a rather ponderous title, this collection is full of airy, light-hearted mirth. Nine tales, like much of Mahy's previous work, proclaim the eventual triumph of the imagination over greed, prejudice and stultifying convention. In ``The Trees''--a particularly powerful story--even the loss of a beloved stand of pines has an unexpected bright side: when the trees are felled, a sweeping view is revealed. Economic difficulties bog down the outrageously rainy town of Trickle, until its ``Thunderstorms and Rainbows'' are parlayed into tourist attractions. Mahy recreates the archetypical cadence of a fairy tale in ``Green Needles,'' the story of Teddy and his encounter with a magical little man who can ``thread a needle with sunshine and sew gold, or with moonlight and sew silver.'' These lilting anecdotes, suffused with a serene allure, will appeal to readers who seek the sparkle of enchantment in even the most commonplace events. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

K-6-- These 9 stories were chosen from collections of Mahy's work published over the last 20 years. Ranging in tone from poignant to broadly humorous, they celebrate the ``magic'' of nature's power in a mix of realism and fantasy. In ``The Trees,'' Elizabeth grieves over the cutting down of her favorite tree; the title story features a girl who can hear plants talking. Hughes's ink drawings include not only her familiar sturdy, rumpled children, but also a dragon, an enchanted merry-go-round, and a man-eating houseplant. On the minus side, the reading level varies from story to story, and the many adult characters may not be interesting to children. Among the pluses are, of course, Mahy's sure command of language and her fine hand with humor. Because of the wide range of age levels involved (from a small boy making mud pies in ``Chocolate Porridge'' to a romantically involved policeman and artist in ``Thunderstorms and Rainbows''), this collection will be best used as a read-aloud. --Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 3-5, younger for reading aloud. A town called Trickle, known for outstanding drainage ditches and the best umbrella factory, as well as for its national galoshes competitions and a young boy's delicious recipe for chocolate porridge (for trees), and, on top of it all, for a wizard whose secret powers don't match his green thumb--these are some of the whimsies of Mahy's bountiful imagination. These nine stories, published over the past 20 years, display a freshness often lacking in children's literature. The ecological themes, praising the richness of nature and those who embrace it, make this unusually strong compilation a timely volume. In the best story, "The Girl with the Green Ear," plant lover Minnie Fortune refuses to play the French horn, much to the distress of her musical father. She abruptly leaves the house and has her hair dyed green as a disguise. Some of the dye inadvertently runs into her ear, allowing her to hear the voices of plants. She sets up a business nursing plants back to health through comforting harp music and discovers her well-tuned notes heal many things. All these yarns possess a soothing quality, making them perfect for reading aloud. (Reviewed Mar. 1, 1992)0679822313Deborah Abbott

Horn Book Review

In the title story, Minnie leaves home when her conductor father orders her to learn to play the French horn. When her ear is accidentally dyed green, she suddenly can hear plants talking. The stories in this collection share a view of nature as a magical presence, whether in the form of wood people, tree sprites, or just a feeling people have for plants or thunderstorms or rainbows. From HORN BOOK 1992, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Nine more stories, written by the versatile New Zealander in the 70's but only now published here; their common theme of being in tune with the natural world makes them especially apposite to the 90's. The ``magic'' isn't always supernatural: since he's lonely, ``The Good Wizard of the Forest'' plants trees and talks to them while they share his meals (he gives them ``plant food cake''); in the end, the grandchildren of those who used to fear him deem him good because he has planted a forest. The title story is about a girl seeking independence from her father, a musical conductor; she thrives in the business of restoring wilted plants by playing the harp to them. Mahy's astringent common sense is in evidence: in ``The Trees,'' all the children but one enjoy seeing a row of dangerously old pines cut down, and even that one child is reconciled by the genuine sympathy of the adults involved and a reprieve for her favorite, the swing tree. Realistic or merrily fantastical, these tales have a special sweetness: a delightful blend of tried-and-true storylines (more than one ends in a happy marriage), language that's witty or lyrical but always fresh, uniquely imaginative settings, and pungently original characters. All this plus vintage b&w drawings by the talented Hughes. A treasure. (Short stories. 8-12)

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