A Nice Selection of Favorites and Rarities

Pinkwater's story collections can be pretty random, and often include novellas that you've read as standalones or as parts of other collections. This book is appealing because it doesn't repeat other collections, it offers four completely distinct and different sorts of tales, and it includes a few real jewels.

The volume opens with an interesting introduction by Pinkwater. I guess it's no surprise that many of our most beloved children's authors have an ornery, dark, or stubbornly nonconformist streak. In his essay, Pinkwater shows us a bit of that, mostly by dismissing all of those teachers, mentors, editors, publishers, and critics who try to box authors into proper genres and story structures. Pinkwater's stories are free-spirited, often with a bracing underlying hint of vinegar, and he makes it clear that he's just fine with that.

But what of the stories? Well, we get a bit of a walkabout with Mozart tracking down a muffin thief. Earth is invaded by junk food obsessed space aliens. A kid is visited by a magic goose who needs some guidance and constructive criticism about the whole business of being a magical visitor. And finally, we follow a lonely kid as he escapes his grim circumstances through grit, family love, and imagination. The stories are, in the above order, silly, inspired silly, deadpan funny edgy silly, and tenderly upbeat.

If you wanted a sense of Pinkwater's range, (not counting books for younger kids, books for woke teens, and books about Hoboken chickens - none of which are represented here), you'd be hard pressed to do better than this. In that regard, the kind and insightful "Wingman" is a bit of a revelation, and "The Magic Goose" is a classic example of the kind of dry, gimlet eyed, totally unnonplussed, (plussed?), kid narrators that make Pinkwater books unique and appealing.

So, a good find all around, and a good introduction to Pinkwater; not just a collection of lesser known items for Pinkwater completists.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

This would not work for too young kids as they would probably be more entertaining for the adults narrating it since there is subtle humour involved in the telling of the tales. There are four stories in it (as indicated so clearly on the cover page) and all of them are completely random, from each other and their content from how it begins. I found it funny even though I am obviously not its intended target.

There is a magical goose, a radio tooth, aliens and one slightly more profound book about a child finding his way which was of a different class than the other three. Overall a pretty engaging read for those who like reading this genre once in a while, I recommend giving this a shot!