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Summary: How is Sylvester going to get back to being a normal donkey?
Review: A children's book for ages 4 to 8 about a donkey named Sylvester who finds a magic pebble which can grant his every wish. Unfortunately, he changes himself into a rock after being freightened by a lion and he can't change himself back without the help from someone else. His family and friends miss him greatly. One has to be very careful when one has unlimited power (or, ability to have one's wishes granted). Many rulers have fallen into that trap! This book won the 1970 Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in a book for children. Children have always loved this story.
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Summary: If Wishes Were Things, Where Would We Be?
Review: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble won the Caldecott Medal as the best illustrated children's story of 1970. The images stand out for their tender renditions of emotion in the faces and bodies of the animals in the illustrations. Nature is rendered in just as malleable a way to emphasize the changes going on in the story. The story itself is a variation of the familiar theme of the grass being greener on the other side. In typical fashion, that fable theme is carried out here through many trials and tribulations that will help your child appreciate the joys of what otherwise would be consider humdrum. The strength of the story is the way the moral is made more explicit than in most other versions of this theme. This book will never be forgotten by any child who reads it, and should be enjoyed by most children beginning around age 3. Fascination will tend to dull after age 6. Sylvester Duncan (a donkey) lived with his parents. His favorite activity was to collect pebbles of unusual shapes and colors. One rainy Saturday during vacation, he was alone when he found a quite extraordinary one. It was "flaming red, shiny, and perfectly round, like a marble." Shivering in the rain, he wished that the sun would come out . . . and it did. The rain stopped so fast, "It CEASED." "It struck him that magic must be at work . . . ." He "guessed that the magic must be in the . . . pebble." He then ran three tests. He started the rain, stopped it again, and got rid of a wart on his left hind fetlock. Excited, he headed back home. He ran into a lion. Startled, he made a wish without thinking. "I wish I were a rock." Well, he succeeded. The lion left. The only trouble was, the pebble fell away from Sylvester. He could no longer hold it to make more wishes come true. He wished away, but still stayed a rock. It was a very dull occupation. His parents were frantic, and started a massive search. Even the dogs could do no good because Sylvester smelled like a rock rather than himself. A year passed slowly. Then through happenstance, the pebble touches Sylvester again. When he wished to be Sylvester again, he changed back in a twinkling! The Duncan family was delighted to be reunited. "Mr. Duncan put the magic pebble in an iron safe." "Some day they might want to use it, but really, for now, what more could they wish for?" "They had all they wanted." As you can see, this story is good for dealing with issues like your child's concerns about losing her or his parents, separation anxiety, the dangers of leaving home, and "magic" based fears. You can provide lots of encouraging reassurance as you read the story, explaining how your child's situation is much different from Sylvester's. The illustrations pick up on the language in the story, so this book will be one of the easier books for you child to learn to read when he or she is around 5 or 6. After you finish the story, I suggest that you ask your child what she or he would wish for if a magic pebble came along. Then talk about how one might obtain something just as good or better through your family's own efforts . . . without the benefit of magic. This can help your child appreciate the magic of mind and spirit within each of us to turn worthwhile wishes into reality. You can point out that this method has an advantage. It never turned anyone into a rock by accident! Touch the magical imagination of your child to create a world of real potential for both of you!
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Summary: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Review: Sylvester and The Magic Pebble, William Steig, Aladdin Library This is a great, fictional, picture book. Sylvester the donkey has always loved collecting pebbles. One time he found a pebble that could grant wishes. On a rainy day when he was on his way home he saw a lion. He made a rational wish to be a rock. The thing is, once he was a rock he couldn't move to reach the pebble and wish himself back to normal. Read about Sylvester's life as a rock and what happens on the day his parents decide to go for a picnic. The main character, in this book is Sylvester. He is a young, brown donkey, with pointy ears and a wart on his left forelock, (until he wished it away). He is an only child and is friends with all the colts and kittens, and other young animals. Sylvester seems so like a human that in some parts of the book you forget he is a donkey. The other two important characters are Mrs. and Mr. Duncan. They are like normal people. The father reads the newspaper and the mother knits while Sylvester looks at his pebble collection. They were heartbroken when Sylvester didn't come home from playing outside. Just like regular parents when they lose their child. This is a great book and children and adults of all ages will enjoy it. The pictures are wonderful and help to explain the story to younger children. If you are looking for a good, funny, family picture book this is a great one. I loved this book because it was about something most people would never think of writing about. It's funny and almost sad in some places. I encourage everyone to read this book once, if not more.
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Summary: A rock forever?
Review: Sylvester the donkey collects rocks, and when he finds a special one, he adds it to his collection. While holding it , he wishes for the rain to stop, and it does. Finding that the pebble is magic, Sylvester hurries on his way to tell his parents. However, on the way home, he is confronted by a lion hungry for donkey for lunch. Remembering the magic pebble, Sylvester wishes to be a rock. Bad decision! With no way of holding the rock, Sylvester cannot change himself back to a donkey after the threat is gone. Will he be a rock forever?
Great story, Caldecott medal winner. Subtly teaches your kids that "things" aren't the important things in life, your family is. Short and enjoyable, this is one your kids won't ever want to part with and will pass on to their children.
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Summary: A Classic for all Ages
Review: William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is one of the greatest picture books yet written. Steig is really the master of the genre. The story is of Sylvester, who is accidentally turned into a rock by a magic pebble. This horrid situation causes Sylvester and his family to realize the true love they have shared and tosses them into total boredom with life. They have to find a way to get back to one another. The book is so moving. The pictures are beautiful as is the prose. The story teaches the joy of love that families should share. It can also be read on an even deeper level as a metaphor for death and the redemptive power of love. Overall, this is an entertaining and brilliant book which can pack an enormous punch within its few pages.
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