Historical September 1986 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Younger readers will love Pete Seeger’s retelling of Abiyoyo, a picture book based on a South African folktale and popularized by Seeger as a song.
A young boy and his magician father move on, not because they choose to, but because they are driven away.
The father’s sometimes tactless waving of his magic wand and the boy’s noisy ukelele playing have offended too many villagers.
The sudden arrival of a hideous giant, Abiyoyo, threatens the whole countryside. Abiyoyo never brushes his teeth or washes his feet.
He snatches up cows and sheep as if they were small sandwiches.
The boy and his father use their wits and their previously scorned talents to rescue the town. Vivid color pictures help tell a very scary story with a very happy ending. Middle graders who enjoy reading about England may want to try Gaffer Sam’s Luck. James’ family moves to the Fens, a flat, marshy part of the country. James finds his new life very disappointing.
All the young people are members of very well-defined cliques and he doesn’t seem to be wanted by any of them. James enjoys the company of Gaffer Sampson, his very old next-door-neighbor, and decides to help him recover a lucky stone hidden away seventy years before. James’ attempts to find the stone and to find acceptance are difficult, but he learns a lot along the way.
The Bagthorpes Abroad is part of a funny series of stories about an eccentric English family for whom no day is ordinary In this one, the Bagthorpes vacation in a haunted house in Wales so that Mr. Bagthorpe can learn about ghosts for a script he is writing.
The house is disappointingly primitive and seemingly ghost-free, but by no means troublefree.
When the already crowded household, the Bagthorpes, their four children, their dog Zero, Grandma, Grandpa, and the housekeeper are visited by Uncle Parker, Aunt Celia, five-year-old Daisy and her pet goat, disasters strike.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September 1986.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1986_09.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
