Merrill, Jean - Books - Magic Bean Dip

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The Pushcart War

Jean Merrill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"This is a peaceful pea plant...and nobody is going to shut us down without a fight." 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I first read THE PUSHCART WAR as a politically-aware sixth grader in 1971 at the nadir of America's involvement in Southeast Asia. As an indictment of, and a primer on, the causes of war, THE PUSHCART WAR is unparalleled. This little-known book should be on everyone's bookshelf, next to THE ENORMOUS EGG, another children's classic on American democracy. THE PUSHCART WAR is written as an actual history, from a vantage point ten years in the future.

THE PUSHCART WAR takes place in a New York City choked with traffic and secretly controlled by powerful business interests (the truck line owners Big Moe Mammoth, Louie Livergreen, and Walter "The Tiger" Sweet) that have co-opted the political machine of Mayor Emmett P. Cudd. "The Three" are determined to see their trucking businesses entirely dominate the city. To that end, they create a Master Plan to eliminate all other competition for the New York streets, first pushcarts, then cars, taxis and buses, and finally even small trucks.

The war begins with The Daffodil Massacre, as Morris The Florist's pushcart is destroyed and the hapless Morris finds himself upside down inside a pickle barrel. It does not take long for the pushcart owners to realize they are being targeted. They soon organize, fighting back with peashooters against the marauding trucks. Along the way, the pushcart warriors (almost all New Americans with names like Peretz, Moroney, Jerusalem, Carlos, and Hammerman) are aided by a high-profile celebrity (the movie star Wanda Gambling), a political aspirant (Mayoral candidate Archie Love), a disaffected trucker (Joey Kafflis), a Police Commissioner quietly engaging in Civil Disobedience against his own leaders, and finally the general public, who engage in a massive letter-writing campaign that topples The Three.

Although the premise seems absurd, author Jean Merrill takes each cartoonish incident and carefully constructs for the reader a tale about a democracy threatened with collapse from within, in which a hastily organized but morally motivated resistance force is able to overcome a numerically superior, more technologically advanced, but ethically bankrupt oligarchy. If this sounds subversive, it is, but in the Spirit of '76.

THE PUSHCART WAR has rarely been more relevant than nowadays. I recommend it for everyone, child and adult alike.

The original illustrations by Ronni Solbert are "New Yorker" Magazine-like in tone and structure, and evoke a sense of the city in the early 1960s that is now nostalgic. I note that in my 1966 Tempo Books edition of Merrill's 1964 story, the "future" Pushcart War took place in the spring of 1976, concluding with a general peace on July 4, 1976, America's Bicentennial, a very symbolic ending. However, more recent editions date the Copyright as 1954, and the Pushcart War in 1986. Wikipedia states that the changes (to 1998 in some editions) were made to keep the story always "in the future." If so, this is a thoughtless choice, and undermines a very subtle but crucial link to our national consciousness.

Editorial Review:

The pushcarts have declared war! New York City's streets are clogged with huge, rude trucks that park where they want, hold up traffic, and bulldoze into anything that is in their way, and the pushcart peddlers are determined to get rid of them. But the trucks are just as determined to get rid of the pushcarts, and chaos results in the city.

The pushcarts have come up with a brilliant strategy that will surely let the hot air out of their enemies. The secret weapon--a peashooter armed with a pin; the target--the vulnerable truck tires. Once the source of the flat tires is discovered, the children of the city joyfully join in with their own pin peashooters. The pushcarts have won one battle, but can they win the war against a corrupt mayor who taxes the pins and prohibits the sale of dried peas?

The Toothpaste Millionaire

Jean Merrill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Didn't live up to the hype. 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I did not find the book as fascinating as all the foregoing reviewers (and I have read hundreds of juvenile books of this reading level), but I can imagine grade 3-6 students rating it more highly--and that is what counts. It can even be a read-aloud for the teacher of grades 3 or 4. I would place it in my classroom library, but it is not a book I could enthusiastically introduce.

The suspense was mild, the climax almost predictable. Nevertheless, the author has an attractive, casual style; the vocabulary is simple; and the story flows easily. But it does have that Bank Street Reader feel, which is what it used to be--like some basal/reading text for grades 3-5.

One attractive aspect of the book is that it does not ignore race or ethnicity, and integrates them in a positive, refreshing manner.

The "Reader's Guide" (test questions) at the end of the book turned me off; it made me feel uncomfortable--I hope teachers won't use it. I think a children's book should be enjoyed for sheer pleasure.

Editorial Review:

Likable, clever, and inventive sixth-graders Rufus Mayflower and
Kate Mackinstrey develop and sell toothpaste to become millionaires
in just one year! This fun, breezy story includes many real-life mathematical
problems which the characters must solve to succeed in
their budding business.

The Superlative Horse: A Tale of Ancient China

Jean Merrill

By: William R. Scott, Inc.
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The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars

Jean Merrill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Beautiful illustrations; lovely tale of medieval Japan 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a marvellous presentation of the traditional Japanese tale ``The lady who loved insects''. It has an admirable protagonist in the title character who is sensible and strong, able to think for herself, who resists the pressures to conform.

The only version of this fascinating Japanese fairy tale available in America 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This children's book is the only version of this 12th century Japanese fairy tale I could find in English in the US. The bold, courageous heroine of the story is charming and delightful, and the illustrations are beautiful. The original story was supposed to have informed Miyazaki's lovely animated film "Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind," which I also highly recommend.

Editorial Review:

Living in twelfth-century Japan, Izumi, a young girl who is fascinated by small creatures, especially caterpillars, ignores the rigid conventions of Japanese court life and the wishes of her parents to pursue her own interests and choices.

The Black Sheep

Jean Merrill

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By: Knopf Books for Young Readers
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Dare to Be Different! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Black Sheep is a book that everyone should read for its themes of resisting peer/social pressures and finding success and happiness through being oneself. It looks like a children's book, but I think it's actually more applicable to teenagers.
The Black Sheep is born on an island of white sheep who do nothing but make sweaters, an industry that requires the cooperation of every sheep. The Black Sheep, however, wants to wear his own coat and plant gardens instead of making sweaters. His desire to be different causes great social upheaval in the sheep society, to the eventual betterment of all.
This sounds stuffy, but it's not a stuffy book at all. It addresses some very large issues in a simple, satisfactory manner.

Fantastic book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book when I picked it up as a kid of about 13 or 14 and I don't remember where I got it. I have always remembered it long after I lost it and a conversation with a friend inspired me to come looking for a copy here.
The black sheep decides to do what he wants to do (garden) and he does it. Even when the sheep society tries to bully him into shearing his wool to make a sweater for himself, he stands firm. It looks like more of a children's book than it is, but it is still appropriate for children. I guess the point is that no matter your age, the book is an enjoyable read that just happens to address a couple of broader issues.

Superlative Horse

Jean Merrill

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By: Addison-Wesley Pub Co
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A wonderful story 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

an adaptation of a Taoist tale from ancient China, Jean Merrill's the Superlative Horse explores the true value of things and the rarity of those to whom such value is apparent. Read this to your children!

The Push Cart War

Jan Merrill, Jean Merrill

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By: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good Book 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The book made me want to read. I couldn't wait to finish it because I wanted to know the end. Pea shooters, how did the author think of this. There are some cool names like Harry the Hot Dog. I didnt want the put the book down. I couldn't wait to turn the page. This is a great book.

Good Book 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The book made me want to read. I couldn't wait to finish it because I wanted to know the end. Pea shooters, how did the author think of this. There are some cool names like Harry the Hot Dog. I didnt want the put the book down. I couldn't wait to turn the page. This is a great book.