Description
From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 3-- A deceptively simple story about seven small wooden dolls (a grandma, a boy and his parents, a dog, a doctor, and a policeman). They coexist with people, first as objects for bathtime and then, after the boy gets stuck in the drain, as windowsill decorations. But there's a spookiness, a surreality about the manner of their interactions that invites readers to use them allegorically. The temptation to perceive the actions of these dolls as a family set in a political state that severely limits their lives is strong. Egielski's crisply delineated, deceptively simple scenes create a visual world that adds considerably to the surrealism. There is no question about the inanimateness of these slickly painted, clothespinlike figures. But--with dots and a few lines as facial clues, can we be "reading" their thoughts? Close-ups are used to make a reasonably scaled world for these figures. Thus patterns of shadows, soap foam, quilt, and tools are blown up to take on new identities. Pictures and words interact in ways that magnetize readers, causing them to linger over a page and to turn back to test a theory of meaning. --Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, ColumbusCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. "A marvelous tale . . . a brilliant tour de force." -- -- H. Pam Conrad wrote many award-winning books for children, including the immensely popular The Tub People and The Tub Grandfather, both illustrated by Richard Egielski. She is also the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels, including Prairie Songs, a 1986 ALA Best Children's Book of the Year and a 1985 ALA Golden Kite Honor Book, and Stonewords, winner of the 1991 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. Read more
Features & Highlights
- The tub people have to rescue the tub child when the water rushes down the drain before the tub people are put safely on the shelf
