Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Stayton Public Library | E BURNINGHAM | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | JP Bur | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A Nigerian folktale -- one of the first picture books John Burningham ever illustrated -- comes to life again with a text by the venerable illustrator.
Hare, Hippopotamus, and Elephant all live together in the forest. But often, when Hippopotamus and Elephant have nothing better to do, they tease Hare and say horrid things to him. When Hare finally gets fed up with them, he conceives a plan: he will challenge each of the massive creatures to a tug-of-war competition. On either side of the trees, Elephant and Hippopotamus pull and tug all through the night, incredulous that Hare could be so strong! With cheeky wit and his signature illustrative style, John Burningham makes the case that even brute strength can be outweighed by brains -- and a quick getaway.
Author Notes
John Burningham was born in Farnham, United Kingdom on April 27, 1936. After two and a half years of non-military service as a conscientious objector, he graduated from Central School of Art with distinction in 1959. Before becoming a children's author and illustrator, he made puppets for Yoram Gross's animation film Joseph the Dreamer and was commissioned to produce a number of posters for London Transport.
Burningham's first picture book, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers, was published in 1963 and won the Kate Greenaway Medal. His other books included Humbert, Avocado Baby, Oi! Get Off Our Train, Courtney, Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present, Come Away from the Water, Shirley, England, Cloudland, France, and There's Going to Be a Baby written with his wife and fellow illustrator Helen Oxenbury. He also illustrated Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 1964 and Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows in 1983. He received the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1970 for Mr. Gumpy's Outing, the Kurt Maschler award in 1984 for Granpa, and the Booktrust lifetime achievement award in 2018 with Oxenbury. Burningham died on January 4, 2019 at the age of 82.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In 1968, Burningham-now known for Mr. Gumpy's Outing and Granpa, among other stories-illustrated Letta Schatz's The Extraordinary Tug-of-War, a retold West African folktale. This edition reprints the original illustrations with a new retelling from Burningham himself. Hare, the smallest of three creatures, faces merciless teasing. Hippopotamus calls Hare "a tiny, wimpy thing" and a "weak little fool," and Elephant trumpets, "Hare, you really are a feeble idiot." Such insults may give readers pause, yet they show why Hare is keen to defeat his tormenters using his superior wits. Hare finds Elephant in the forest, challenges him to a tug-of-war, and gives him an end of rope. Hare meets Hippopotamus at the river and gives him the other end. Sight unseen, both creatures believe Hare is pulling against them, and fail to realize their error until Hare "was already miles away, up in the hills." Burningham's energetic yet shadowy mixed-media drawings, in aqueous hues of blue, brown, and green, recall the oily lithography of the 1960s, yet hold up well in this still-relevant fable. Ages 5-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
The Extraordinary Tug-of-War, a classic African trickster tale, was one of the first books Burningham illustrated. Here, he retells the fable himself. Weary of being belittled by Elephant and Hippopotamus, Hare challenges each to a tug-of-war, cleverly engineering the contest so that his tormentors actually pull against each other. The real glory of this new edition is its (original) gorgeous, witty art. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Burningham charges up selected and rearranged illustrations from one of his early works with a new text that adds considerable bite. Retold in the 1968 version (titled The Extraordinary Tug-of-War) by Letta Schatz from an Ethiopian tale, the story features a clever hare who challenges scornful Hippo and Elephant to a tug of war, then puts them on opposite ends of the same rope. Burningham does away with the original's now-stodgy folklorese: "And Elephant would bellow, billowing with laughter, Ho, Hare! I hear you are called "Big Ears!" Big Ears! You! Please look at me!' " He replaces it with contemporary, and much more abusive, language: "And Elephant would say, Hare, you really are a feeble idiot, with your twitching nose and whiskers. That's all you have.' " By the time the animal dupes discover the deception and vow revenge ("Let's get the little runt!"), Hare is long gone. In contrast to the sharp tone of the text, though the trim size of this new edition is only about an inch more all around, the spattered, scribbly illustrations look overly enlarged, with diffuse lines and dimly lit, indistinct details. No matter: They still serve to convey the thwarted bullies' bulk and rage. Young audiences will relish the outcome of this simple trickster tale and likely be startled into laughter by its edgy language. The little runts. (no source note) (Picture book/folktale. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A Nigerian folktale about a hippo, an elephant, and a hare is retold by Burningham, 45 years after it was first published as The Extraordinary Tug-of-War, with text by Letta Schatz. Now, with the original illustrations and a brand-new text, Burningham spins his own version of three animals who live together in the forest. Hippopotamus and Elephant tease Hare mercilessly Hare, you are a feeble idiot, with your twitching nose and whiskers until Hare gets fed up and concocts a plan. He challenges both to a game of tug-of-war; but instead of being on the other end of the rope, he sets it up so that Hippopotamus and Elephant are struggling against each other. It's a classic brains-over-brawn tale, made memorable by Burningham's signature illustrations and witty text (poor Hare is called everything from a little runt to a little weed). It's oh-so-satisfying when quick-moving Hare gets the last laugh, and Burningham's many fans will be happy (hoppy?) to introduce this spiffed-up story to a new generation.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Is it a bird? No! Is it a plane? Sort of. It's Elecopter, a blue elephant with propellers and landing gear who flies over the African savanna returning baby birds to their nests, administering haircuts to lions and rescuing animals from wildfires. Slack ("Monkey Truck") sees great comic possibilities in his flying pachyderm's unusual abilities. Fierce in the face of danger and always kind, this motherly elephant gives Elecopter parenting a good name. A MAMMOTH IN THE FRIDGE By Michaël Escoffier. Illustrated by Matthieu Maudet. 36 pp. Gecko Press. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 3 and up) "Dad! Dad! There's a mammoth in the fridge," the big brother shouts. His father looks cross; his sister seems worried. After the fire department chases the poor mammoth up a tree, everyone goes to bed - until a little voice calls, "Here, kitty, kitty! " and brings the imaginary friend back home. Originally published in France, this amusing and absurd book gains much of its humor from Maudet's action-packed pencil drawings, colored in stylish blocks of intense orange, blue, red and white. ELEPHANT'S STORY Written and illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson. 40 pp. Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) As Gracie walks home from school, a book falls from her backpack. A well-meaning elephant finds it, sniffs the book's words right up his trunk, and sneezes them out in a jumble. Animal friends try to put the words back, but the alligator wants to eat them, the seal wants to juggle them, and so on. Like all the best books, this one can be read on several levels, and kids ready for simple deciphering will enjoy Pearson's anagrams. CINDERELEPHANT Written and illustrated by Emma Dodd. 32 pp. Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) With elephant books, the laughs seem to take care of themselves. Put an elephant on a bicycle, add some very silly puns ("Prince Trunky's decisions carry a lot of weight"), and just like that, you've given your readers a serious case of the giggles. Or does Dodd just make it look easy? In her retelling of "Cinderella," the fairy godmother is a furry godmouse and the stepsisters warthogs. Like Cinderelephant's huge slipper, subject and story are an unlikely but delightful fit. TUG-OF-WAR Written and illustrated by John Burningham. 32 pp. Candlewick Press. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 7) Not every storybook elephant is amiable. Burningham has rewritten an African folktale he illustrated 45 years ago, and his elephant is downright nasty. He and his pompous friend Hippopotamus bully Hare, calling him a "big-whiskered nerd" and a "sickly little twerp." Hare may be small, but he has a better brain than his tormentors, and plays a pretty good trick on them. Burningham's new text is typically unsentimental; school-age boys will probably find it outrageously funny. QUEENIE One Elephant's Story By Corinne Fenton. Illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe. 24 pp. Candlewick Press. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 7) The true story of Queenie, an Indian elephant captured in the wild and taken to the Melbourne Zoo, is imbued with a sense of the unknowability of such animals. For 40 years, children and other visitors to the zoo took howdah rides on Queenie's back, attended her birthday parties and fed her apples. But in 1944, she killed a keeper for no apparent reason. Gouldthorpe's realistic illustrations and Fenton's carefully researched history give this tale due poignancy. BITS AND PIECES Written and illustrated by Judy Schachner. 32 pp. Dial. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 5) "For a cat, Tink was an odd duck," Schachner begins, in the clever, joking voice of her Skippyjon Jones books. Seen in Schachner's fuzzy, soft-toned pictures, Tink, a bat-eared kitty with a brain "the size of a frozen pea," goofs around at home, licking the butter and generally getting into mischief. After a lifetime of hankering for the outdoors, he finally slips through the door and gets the adventure he's been yearning for. There's a lot more to it, and it's a delight from start to finish. CAPTAIN CAT Written and illustrated by Inga Moore. 48 pp. Candlewick Press. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) Captain Cat just can't say no to a furry face: his ship, the Carlotta, has more cats aboard than sailors. One day a storm blows him clear off the charts. The island where he lands has an exuberant teenage queen and a dreadful infestation of rats; Captain Cat's feline cargo is suddenly very valuable. Moore's detailed crosshatched pictures - in a style familiar from her illustrations for "The Wind in the Willows" and "The Secret Garden" - add charm to this warmhearted story. MR. WUFFLES! Written and illustrated by David Wiesner. 32 pp. Clarion Books. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) In this brilliant book, Wiesner ("Flotsam," "Tuesday") unleashes the dramatic visual storytelling that won him three Caldecott Medals. Mr. Wuffles, a house cat, has a silly name that belies his predatory nature. Uninterested in toys, he takes notice of a tiny spaceship. Alternating full-page illustrations with graphic- novel-like grids, Wiesner tells a tale of alien visitors and their ant allies. The dusty space under the radiator turns out to be the suburban equivalent of the Lascaux caves. LOST CAT Written and illustrated by C. Roger Mader. 32 pp. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) "Lost Cat," Mader's first book for children, is as handsome as the big-eyed tabby that stares out from its cover. The cat, bereft of her owner and searching for a new human to adopt, encounters a trucker, a motorcycle man and even a horse, all depicted from the cat's low-to-the-ground perspective. Mader uses pastels to create his close-up illustrations; deep-hued woodland and sunset scenes communicate how big, mysterious and enticing the natural world is to this formerly housebound cat. DRAT THAT CAT! Written and illustrated by Tony Ross. 32 pp. Andersen Press USA. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 9) Suzy Cat has so much white fur she looks like a cross between a puli and Cousin Itt. Though beloved, she is no angel: she scratches a sofa to ribbons, piddles in Dad's golf bag, bites Grandpa and pulls down the curtains. "Drat that cat!" resounds through the house - until Suzy decides to remind her humans just how much they really love her. Everything about this book feels British, from Ross's slapdash drawings (not unlike those of Quentin Blake) to the family's cozy house and unsentimental, madcap expressions. Enjoy with a cup of tea, real or imaginary. ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.