Nice story for kids to learn and understand a deeper message more easily. This book answers Why misery will stay back in the world.

Old Misery is an elderly woman with little to her name but her cat and an apple tree that is always being pilfered. When she is granted a wish after a kindness, she insists that anyone who tries to steal apples will get stuck to the tree until she releases them. That wish leads to amusing consequences and allows Old Misery to have additional control over her life...to a point.

The illustrations are whimsical, a perfect pairing with the words.

Old Misery by James Sage is a fable about an old woman, her cat, an apple tree, and Death.

WHO WOULD ENJOY READING IT?
Children around 7 to 12 would appreciate the tale. Adults can read it as well and there are elements of allegory embedded in it.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT
Like most picture books, Old Misery is straightforward in its narration. Also, the language style used, though old-fashioned, suited the whole story.

WHAT I DO NOT LIKE
The ending was not well-executed. In a bid to avoid moralising, I think the author ended the book abruptly.

.......


Old Misery by James Sage hits stores in May 2018, available in all major online bookstores.

Many thanks to Kids Can Press for review copy.

'Old Misery' by James Sage with illustrations by Russell Ayto is a retelling of an old story. Unfortunately, this very short story didn't hold my interest.

Old Misery lives with her cat, Rutterkin. She's not very well off, but she has an apple tree. The problem is that other people keep taking her apples. When a visitor helps her stop the apple thieves, the trick comes in handier than Old Misery hopes. Unfortunately, it leads to an unusual ending for Old Misery.

I was first attracted to this book because I'd hoped it would be similar to an Edward Gorey story. The art was simple and didn't really work for me. The story had odd sentences and pacing. It is dark and strange, and I don't think children would enjoy it.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Kids Can Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I admit it. The drawings are what drew me to Old Misery, along with the title. The blurb above gives a good summary, but I will say I found it amusing who all managed to get stuck in her tree. The illustrations are perfect for the story, simple and amusing but grim too.

But we all know that wishes can often be double-edged swords. The “surprise visitor” who really probably wasn’t much of a surprise to the old woman, ends up stuck in the tree and Old Misery learns why you have to be so careful with your wished.

It’s a cute re-telling of the Auntie Misery folktale. It’s dark and a reminder that there will always be Misery and Death in the world, but I’m pretty sure there are certain kids, some of whom may or may not be in my family, who will love it.

Old Misery is story with basis in folktales. The illustrations are done in an exaggerated black and white line drawing style. Both of these things are likely meant to call back to previous generations of stories, but instead make the story feel antiquated and out of date. Old Misery may have a better time attracting older readers but its large simple text will likely make it a hard sell for that audience.

Old Misery is a picturebook written by James Sage and illustrated by Russell Ayto. It is currently scheduled for release on May 1 2018. Poor Old Misery. She and her old cat, Rutterkin, “ain't got two pennies to rub together.” And the one thing of value she does have ---a tree, filled with good eating apples --- is regularly ransacked by humans and animals of all kinds who make off with armloads of apples! So, one day, when a surprise visitor grants her a wish, Old Misery tells him, “There's but one wish for me, mister, and it's this here: whoever I catch stealing apples off my tree will get stuck to it until I decide to let them go!” At first, it seems like her wish was a terrific idea, as she catches all the apple thieves and sends them on their way for good. But then Old Misery decides to use her new power on another surprise visitor. And she learns what may be the most miserable lesson of all: be careful what you wish for!

Old Misery is a slightly macabre story about why misery will always be here. Old Misery is poor, with only a cat and an apple tree to call her own. She uses the wish from one surprise visitor to protect her tree, and then to trap another surprise visitor- gaining herself immortality with a steep price to pay. I like that the artwork by Ayto is reminiscent of the art of Gris Grimly and Edward Gorey, which made me happy. I liked the clean style, and it matched the story very well. The voice of the story is unique, and tells a story that includes trickery, death, and more. It might be a little dark for some young readers, but I think it will appeal to many.

This book was sort of funny, it’s about an old woman, her cat, and an her apple tree. She is always mad that people are stealing apples from her tree. Might be sort of scary for younger kids because the grim reaper makes an appearance in the book. The story made me chuckle a few times, but I’m not sure how much young kids would connect with it.

#netgalley

Readers with a darker sense of humor (and parents who are Gorey fans) will get a chuckle out of Old Misery, the story of a cranky old woman named - you got it - Old Misery, and her old cat, Rutterkin. She's broke, and the apples keep disappearing from her apple tree! Lucky for Old Misery, she's not completely heartless and feeds a wandering visitor, who grants her one wish: she wants all the apple thieves to be caught in the tree until she lets them go! Old Misery decides to play a little risky game when Death himself shows up at her door - and she sends him to the apple tree. Be careful what you wish for! The black and white, pen and ink artwork has a creepy, quirky feel to it, which will appeal to kids who like Lemony Snicket's work, but may go over some kids' heads. Old Misery narrates the story, offering an opportunity for a fun read-aloud.

This story is told by an old lady named Misery who has a cat named Rutterkin. She is very poor but has an apple tree that she loves. However, people keep stealing apples and she’s too old to do much about it. But one day a man stops by who is very hungry. He is asking for something to eat. Even though she is poor and doesn't have much she gives him some potato pie and the last of her rhubarb wine. Before he leaves he says he will grant her one wish. But will her wish make things better or worse for her?

Cons: I wasn’t sure about the dialect used in this story. While I thought it was cute, I’m not sure how children will like it. Example: “Ain’t got two pennies to rub together. Ain’t got nothing except old Rutterkin here, and she’s about as worthless as a dog with fleas.”

My other concern is that this is about as close to the folktale Aunty Misery as a story can come, with only minor changes. I think if it was mentioned somewhere in this book, that this story is based on a folktale that it might be helpful to teachers.  

Pros: There are lots of teaching aids for this story (or those close to it) offered on the internet. I think it would be a good folktale teaching story for upper elementary grades. While the illustrations (black pencil and digital), are not something I would typically choose for a picture book, they feel perfect for this book.

Old Misery was a clever tale of trickery. I enjoyed the twist at the end. I can think of many uses for this picture book with upper elementary students. A fun read for more mature readers.

Old Misery is a humorous quick read. It tells the story of a little old lady and her apple tree. I found the story to be entertaining and unexpected. That's a large feat for such a short story.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Author: James Sage
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Expected Publication Date: 01 May 2018

A creepy little tale, based on a very old story. I'm not sure what kind of child I'd recommend it to, but I love it!

It was an amusing story - and the art was good.

But why did I keep thinking to myself - I've heard this story before?

Well, it's basically an old folk tale told in Portugal, Spain, France, and other countries.

https://everything2.com/title/Aunt%2520Misery

While I enjoyed it, I was disappointed that nowhere could I find that the author let us know he didn't completely make up the story. I guess he has no legal requirement to do so - and Disney has that precedent. But that just seems icky.

I would have given this 4 stars if I could find somewhere that the author gives credit to someone else, but because I couldn't, it makes it much harder to recommend this book.

A fun book for those young readers who don't mind a predominance of pictures and little writing, or for those coming the other way - building up to archly humorous little escapades involving crabby old women and their cats, thieving vicars, and Death. I certainly enjoyed it, even if the story didn't quite end as I'd have expected - the title character is well worth a few minutes' company. It's a clever little piece, nicely designed, and I'd recommend it.

This is quite an odd little book. The illustrations are basic but entertaining and should be interesting enough for young readers. The language used and style of writing is what make this book one I would use in education. The actual writing is all very non-standard and this makes it a good jumping off point for children to write their own non-standard works and to play with the language a little. It would be a nice challenge to set children the task of turning some of the phrases in to a more standard formal style. Where this book falls down slightly, is that the narrative is not very strong and this makes it less ideal to use as inspiration for anything like a story map/talk for writing kind of text.

I would use this in class, but I do not think it I would say it is a book everyone would love.

Sadly I wasn't a huge fan of this book, the images were very basic as I expected and that was fine, but the story wasn't one that kept attention, it was ok, just nothing great - 2 stars

This is one of those head scratchers. I liked the book, but it’s hard to say why. In a way it is like a Just So Story by Kipling that tells you how elephant got its truck. In this case it is why Misery exists in the world. It's a dark tale, but you don’t realize it’s a dark tale until the end. Overall I give it an interesting.

While I appreciate the dialect and the origin tale genre, I feel like some stories lose something when they are put down on paper. This is one of those stories for me. I think this needs to be performed--live--as it is intended through storytelling rather than reading.