Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Amity Public Library | E MAHY | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Independence Public Library | J PICTURE BOOK - MAHY | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | JP Mah | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Silver Falls Library | JP MAHY | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | E MAHY | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
The McTavishes, their seven children, and Granny McTavish take their old rattlebang of a car on a picnic up Mt. Fogg and have an exciting adventure.
Author Notes
Margaret Mahy was born on March 21, 1936 in Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. She received a B.A. degree from the University of New Zealand. She worked as a nurse, an assistant librarian, and a children's librarian in England and New Zealand. Her first book, A Lion in the Meadow, was published in 1969. She became a full-time author in 1980. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 120 children's books including The Haunting, The Changeover, Memory, The Seven Chinese Brothers, The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate and A Summery Saturday Morning. She won the Esther Glen Award five times, the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association three times, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Hans Christian Andersen Award, and in 1999, she won the New Zealand Post Children's Book Award in two categories, Picture Book and Supreme Award. She died after a brief illness on July 23, 2012 at the age of 76.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-An original tall tale with an outrageously bizarre plot. When Jack and Marion McTavish get married, they have to decide between a ``wonderful, speedy car that never breaks down'' or a large family. They opt for children-seven of them-and an old rattlebang car. Meanwhile, Granny McTavish makes pizzas and pancakes that are so tough they can break sharks' teeth. One day, the entire family takes a picnic to the top of Mount Fogg, where they are caught by an erupting volcano. One of the inedible pizzas fills in for a wheel that has fallen off the old car, and the story ends happily. Only Mahy could concoct a story about an overcooked pizza saving a family from rivers of hot lava. Her writing is vivid, funny, and full of details that will be dear to a child's heart. And Kellogg's watercolors are a perfect match, adding to the air of deadpan chaos. For the lava, he has let his paints run together in an artful way, a departure from his usual contained look. Take children on this picnic, and you'll all enjoy the ride. A terrific picture book.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
An eccentric family with a rattlebang car go picnicking on an active volcano in this tall tale PW called "absurdly amusing." Ages 5-7. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In Mahy's ebullient tale, Jack and Marion McTavish decide to buy an 'old rattlebang' car so they can afford to have seven children. One day, the family starts out for Mount Fogg, but the mountain has a surprise for them, in the form of a volcanic eruption. High spirits and hair's-breadth escapes end happily at the scenic overlook. Kellogg is the perfect illustrator for such goings-on, with all sorts of items -- including children, toys, and small pieces of the car -- toppling, tumbling, and collapsing right and left. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
/*STARRED REVIEW*/ Ages 5-7. When Jack McTavish marries Marion McGillicuddy, they decide they can afford either a wonderful, speedy car that doesn't break down or lots of children. Then they hit upon a compromise. They'll have just a few children--six or seven--and make do with an old rattlebang of a car. So seven children later, the McTavishes enjoy going on trips to places like Shark Park in their undersized, overstuffed green car. Also along for the ride is Granny McTavish, loved by the children except when it comes to the hard-as-rock pizzas she insists on making. This story has all the kick one would expect from another Mahy-Kellogg pairing. The family has wild adventures during their picnics on the beach and at the river, but when they head up to Mount Fogg, the fun really begins. Their clunker car bumps and grinds up the winding, rocky road. Coming down is harder. Mount Fogg is a volcano, and when the lava spits out, it's time to go. But the old rattlebang isn't up to the ride. It loses a wheel, and not until the kids come up with the idea of using one of Granny's pizzas in its stead are they able to flee the flow. Kellogg's chock-a-block pictures erupt, too--with kids, playthings, pizzas, and car parts. P.S.: Watch for the hippos sneaking into the artwork, runaways from The Boy Who Was Followed Home (1986). (Reviewed June 1994)0803713185Ilene Cooper