Pinkwater, Daniel Books

5 Novels: Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars; Slaves of Spiegel; The Last Guru; Young Adult Novel; The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death

Daniel Pinkwater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 59 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

There are many words that could be used to describe Daniel Pinkwater's books. Wacky comes to mind. Outrageous. Lively. Real. Unreal. Comic genius Jules Feiffer, in his foreword to 5 Novels, says, "Pinkwater's thoughts don't connect like yours or mine. His 'tab A' does not fit into 'slot A' the way it's supposed to in a well-thought-out thought. More likely, his 'tab A' will fit into 'slot 14' or 'slot X79,' the kind of fit that might drive you or me crazy if we tried it, but when Pinkwater does it, you read it and say to yourself, 'Why, of course, this is how it should be.'"

Performing chickens, a New Jersey Martian, an orangutan orchestra conductor from Ceylon ... the details are what jump out of his novels. The ice cream dish in Slaves of Spiegel, for example, consisting of an eggplant, two slabs of whole-wheat pizza dough, 16 flavors of ice cream, fresh figs, pistachio nuts, a lobster, and assorted fresh garden vegetables and fruit. (It's served piping hot from the microwave, in a freshly laundered regulation army knapsack, to the accompaniment of Franz Liszt music.) This is what Pinkwater is all about. A junior-high schooler's dream of an author.

In 5 Novels, you can feast upon five beloved and quirky favorites: Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars, Slaves of Spiegel, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, The Last Guru, and Young Adult Novel. And if you still need more Pinkwater novels (and you definitely do), explore 4 Fantastic Novels. (Ages 9 and much, much older.) --Emilie Coulter

Once Upon a Blue Moose

Daniel Manus Pinkwater

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

At last! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Here is the Blue Moose trilogy, back in print and all in one volume. This format is smaller than the old books were, but the illustrations still look really great. There are a few sections of moose facts [with a humorous slant], and there's even a letter from the moose himself!
Blue Moose is my favorite Pinkwater book, the first one I remember reading. I love the tale of Mr. Breton's restaurant in the woods. I love reading about the difference the moose made in Mr. Breton's life, and I will never forget the impact the line "I AM NOT A TAME MOOSE!" had when my mom read it aloud.
In kindergarten, I took Blue Moose to school so my teacher could read it to the whole class. I remember her asking, "Does anyone know what a game warden is?"
I raised my hand and answered, "It's the person in charge of all the video games."
My teacher was so nice--she didn't embarrass me by correcting me!
I didn't read Return of the Moose and The Moosepire till much later. While I was happy to read about the moose's continuing adventures (writing a book and solving a mystery), the sequels didn't have quite the effect on me that the original did. I think they lacked the cozy ambience of the first book--but what CAN compare to Blue Moose? It's great to have all three books, and you can't go wrong at this price! These books are must-haves, and I'm so glad to be able to pass them on to the next generation!

Editorial Review:

Once upon a blue moose, there was a little restaurant at the edge of the big woods. Mr. Breton was happy running the restaurant. He liked to cook, but he didn’t like it much when winter came and the north wind blew and froze everything solid.
Then one day a blue moose, who also didn’t like the cold, came to his door and asked to come in. Mr. Breton said sure, and served the moose some clam chowder. The moose liked the soup, and decided to stay. From that time on, things at the restaurant began to hum.
Join the Blue Moose in this hilarious collection of three short novels as he learns to wait tables, writes a novel, goes to Hollywood, solves a mystery, and makes you laugh even in the dark of the cold woods.
Includes new wacky but true moose facts!

Bear's Picture

Daniel Manus Pinkwater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A must-have! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is the perfect book for helping children to remember that if THEY are pleased with something they have made for the joy of making it, then it does not matter what others think. A good book for many adults (especially hypercritical ones) to read as well...

Picture Perfect 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Bear's Picture is simple, sweet and true, and I'm not the only one who thinks so! Immediately after taking our copy out of the box my three year old daughter, who loves to paint, asked me to read it three times in a row and it has been in heavy rotation ever since.

The artwork is as wonderful as the story. The two "fine and proper gentlemen" in the book may not "get" bear's picture, but you and your child certainly will.

Editorial Review:

A bear wants to paint a picture, and so he does; however, two fine, proper gentlemen don't think that it is a very fine picture at all. But just because they don't see what the bear sees doesn't make it a bad picture, right? Daniel Pinkwater turns art (and art critics) upside down in this classic tale, now beautifully reillustrated by D. B. Johnson.

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency

Daniel Pinkwater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Fun, fast read! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

When Arther Bobowicz is asked to bring home the Thanksgiving turkey,he is horrified to discover the shops are empty. But when he visits the apartment of an eccentric scientist,he finds himself bringing home a 266 pound chicken instead. He insists to his parents he should be able to keep the chicken and eventually,his begging succeeds.He has great fun teaching his chicken new tricks,(such as going down slides,playing on swingsets etc.)but his 266 pound chicken escapes. Mayhem ensues.

This book is a fun, fast read for children of all ages to enjoy. While it can be read in one sitting,it should be read at least twice, in order to get all the jokes.

RATING:B+

Editorial Review:

SOMETHING'S FOWL IN HOBOKEN.

When Arthur Bobowicz is sent out to bring home the family's Thanksgiving turkey, he returns instead with Henrietta -- a 266 pound chicken with a mind of her own. Feathers fly when this colossal clucker descends upon Hoboken, New Jersey. Thus begins the hilarious hen-tastic tall tale that has kept readers in stitches since Henrietta first pecked her way onto the scene in 1977.

Revised with brand new illustrations by Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Auth, this new edition of The Hoboken Chicken Emergency will have readers crowing so hard with laughter, they may just lay an egg!

The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization

Daniel Manus Pinkwater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

turtles all the way down 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book. I think I get what it is about, not worrying about things, resting in God (or on the great turtle). It reminds me of an essay by an Episcopalian minister, Barbara Brown Taylor (The Luminous Web, The Limits of Knowledge) She recounts this in the book: p. 87

"According to one Native American creation myth , the earth rests on the back of a giant turtle. When an ethnologist who was trying to get the story down on paper asked an elder what was underneath that turtle, the elder said "Another turtle."
"And under that?" the ethnologist asked.
"Oh, it's turtles all the way down".

I took this to mean to trust more because there are some things that just can't be pinned down. How can you not love a book whose hero saves the world by singing? WOW. I mean WOW! And I live in Albuquerque where an important part of the story takes place so it gets points for that. Also, the wonderfully quirky illustrations are by Calef Brown who wrote a great childrens book "Polkabats and Octupus Slacks." (Read his poem "Funky Snowman" for an optimists view of life.)

I'm giving this book to my nephew for his baptism. Not an obvious choice but I find this book to be deeply spiritual, as well as funny, charming, and tender.

Editorial Review:

The old powers try to come back, and the planet is plunged into chaos, and civilization is destroyed, and it gets all violent and evil...the old legends tell that a hero...with the sacred turtle, always...

Los Angeles, California.
Neddie Wentworthstein is the guy with the turtle.
Sandor Eucalyptus is the guy with the jellybean.
Sholmos Bunyip wants the turtle...and he'll stop at nothing to get it.

This is the story of how Neddie, three good friends, a shaman, a ghost, and a little maneuver known as the French substitution determine the fate of the world.

At the Hotel Larry

Daniel Manus Pinkwater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Funny and great to read aloud 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

The narrator of this story is a girl who lives in a hotel with her father and mother. Larry, a polar bear, once saved her father's life, and as a reward, Larry wanted to live in a hotel with a swimming pool. So her father bought an old hotel, and Larry is the lifeguard. Every now and again, the girl disguises Larry in a very large coat, hat, and sunglasses, and they go to the Pancake Palace to eat blueberry pancakes. One day they go to the zoo, and I won't spoil the story by telling any more! The humor is wacky and sophisticated but will appeal to all ages.The style is simple and the book is fun to read because Larry is so clever and droll. I have read this book aloud countless of times to my 3-year-old. Larry has really captured the imagination of my son. Highly recommended for its humor and great illustrations.

Band of Bearthren 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Daniel and Jill Pinkwater have another winner in this book from the enormously funny "Larry" series. Larry is a huge but friendly polar bear who lives in a hotel and hangs out in the icy cold pool. This is a jokey-book, but even when the humor is predictable, the Pinkwaters' dry as ice delivery is irresistible: "NOTICE TO GUESTS: MAKE SURE THE BEAR LIKES YOU BEFORE USING THE POOL."

"...Guests ask [my mother] `How can we tell if the bear likes us?'
"...oh, the bear likes everybody."
Very few guests use the pool.

Later the narrator (a young teenage girl) takes a mildly disguised Larry out for blueberries: "people think he is just a big fat man with whiskers, wearing a pair of slippers that look like fuzzy bear paws." Then the rim-shot:

"If anyone were to ask I would say that Larry is my uncle from Milwaukee."

The one potentially tricky part of the book occurs when Larry takes his first trip to the zoo and sees his brother Roy. But the zoo is a fun place for them to meet and swim together and fool a few visitors as well. The zookeeper even lets Roy and his two pool mates out for the night, and they have codfish cakes and blueberries at the hotel Larry. Although I paused for a bit, the gentle good-natured tone drowns out any dissonance regarding free and captive polar bears: It's a kids' book, and the Pinkwaters' combination of deft prose, and bold, colorful pictures set a happy tone of fantasy and bearish camaraderie. Also check out Larry in "Bongo Larry," in which he eats (what else?) blueberries and plays the blues at a local club. Good fun, and definitely recommended.

Editorial Review:

At The Hotel Larry is a Marshall Cavendish publication.

The Magic Pretzel : Ready For Chapters 1

Daniel Pinkwater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

There is only one way to keep from turning into a werewolf, and that is with the help of a magic pretzel. This seems simple enough--unless the only magic pretzel on earth happens to be kept by your half brother Lance Von Sweeny in a special, burglar-proof case in the Museum of the Pretzel on Nemo Boulevard. This is the predicament of Mr. Talbot, beloved (yet weird and scary) teacher, half-man, half-wolf, and sponsor of the Watson Elementary School Werewolf Club.

Norman Gnormal is the only nonwerewolf in the club, but the others let him in because his parents actually wanted a dog instead of a little boy and raised him accordingly. Although Norman (alias "Poodle Boy" or "Alpo-breath") is mocked for growling and keeping meat in his desk, his canine sense of smell and expert tracking skills serve him well in the search for the elusive, parsnip-driving Lance Von Sweeny and the desired magic pretzel. Of course, nothing turns out as expected in Daniel Pinkwater's delightfully absurd, absurdly delightful first installment in The Werewolf Club series of short chapter books.

Jill Pinkwater's pen-and-ink illustrations suit the story's comic buoyancy and contribute to the airy, easy-to-read format. If your children are new to Pinkwater, it's as crucial as a magic pretzel to a reluctant werewolf that you introduce them to The Hoboken Chicken Emergency and when they're ready, his collection of classics, 5 Novels. Move over, Captain Underpants, and make way for The Werewolf Club. Awoooooo! (Ages 7 to 10) --Karin Snelson

Bad Bear Detectives: An Irving and Muktuk Story (Irving & Muktuk Story)

Daniel Manus Pinkwater

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

On the Waterfront 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Those Bayonne Bears are back, and there's not a safe muffin in all of New Jersey. "Bad Bear Detectives" is another delicious book in Daniel and Jill Pinkwater's hilarious "Irving and Muktuk" series, and it's one of their funniest. While Daniel Pinkwater specializes in combining the outrageous with the dryly understated (much as James Stevenson does in his stories about Grandpa and Wainey), `Detectives' has some of the funniest lines of all the "Bear" books, and Jill Pinkwater's colorful backgrounds and imaginatively drawn backdrops and bears (the latter are so uncomplicated and sheer white that they seem to leap off the page) engage the reader and convey the slyly innocent, but oh-so-guilty personalities of the muffin-obsessed bears.

When determined Police Captain Hare fingers Irving and Muktuk as the prime suspects in a heist of "expensive Italian designer muffins from the waterfront, the bears take a break from cheating at poker to proclaim their innocence:

"This is bad," Muktuk says, "Make one mistake and anytime a muffin is missing, the coppers are all over you."
It is unfair, "Irving says.
"Of course, we have made more than one mistake," Muktuk says.

Unfortunately, their history of muffin larceny (stretching from Alaska to the Bayonne muffin factory) is so well known that not even the zoo director sides with them, and even offers a punishment: "If it is proven that they took the muffins, they will be locked in their [apartment-like] room at night, and they will have to pick up trash around the zoo for a year."

However, the bears are so convinced of their innocence (or have a huge capacity for denial) that they resolve to "remove the smirch from their names," by stealing detective hats and finding the true culprit. "Isn't it a bad idea, where we are going to prove that we did not steal something, to start out by stealing hats?" Irving asks. In Pinkwater's usual deadpan style, Muktuk replies, "We have no choice...without hats, we would be spotted as polar bears in a second."

There's only one soft spot in the story, some good detective-bad detective interrogation of a watchman that doesn't quite fit, but two pages later Pinkwater returns to prime Irving and Muktuk form: "If you were a bear..." Muktuk says. "I am a bear," Irving says. IF you were a bear, and you took the muffins, what would you do next?" Muktuk asks. "I would eat them!" Muktuk says. With their working theory that bears must have stolen the muffins, Irving and Muktuk have inside knowledge of the muffins' location. They're so familiar with the loot that they pick up the smell of "mirtilli dell'italia, or blueberries of Italy, and--surprise!--the scent of bear! Still hanging onto their excuse that they're after some other muffin-loving bears, Irving and Muktuk lead us back to the Bayonne zoo ( ! ), where they find the muffins behind a waterfall next to the polar bear pool! They're slightly soggy, but good enough to finish off.

"So, it was us! We did take the muffins!" Muktuk says. "Because we are bad bears," Irving says. "Yes, we are, Muktuk says."

And this is a very excellent book. In the Pinkwaters' hands, the bears are clever symbols of young children, so egocentric and single-minded in their hedonistic pursuits that their heartfelt tale of innocence lasts right up to the muffin-eating conclusion. As they eat the last muffin morsels, they know that punishment will follow the crime, but their eyes seem to say that nothing will hold them for long--and nothing ever does. Good for them, and good for all of us, because there's nothing quite as delightful as the blueberry muffin-eating bears of Bayonne.

Editorial Review:

When a shipment of imported Italian muffins goes missing, Irving and Muktuk become the key suspects. Everyone knows their weakness for muffins and immediately think they are responsible!

Irving and Muktuk realize that in order to clear their smirched names, they have to find the culprit themselves. They disguise themselves, sniff out some clues, interview possible witnesses, and try to find the thief. As with all good mysteries, the clues lead to a surprise ending.

4 : Fantastic Novels

Daniel Pinkwater, Scott Simon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Whether you know Daniel Pinkwater as a children's book author (and you should, he's written over 40 fabulous books) or as a National Public Radio commentator, you must agree that he is a very, very funny guy. Though his books are perfectly nonsensical and absurd in all the best ways, they leave you feeling strangely serene about the universe. Whether his books introduce us to muffin-eating polar bears (Larry), really old time-traveling men (Uncle Borgel), or 266-pound chickens (Henrietta from The Hoboken Chicken Emergency), they each reflect a polite world where people (and other species) basically respect each other--warts, multiple heads, foul smells (we're thinking of the Bloboform), and all. As luck would have it, four of Pinkwater's previously published novels are now combined in one delicious and aptly named paperback volume, 4 Fantastic Novels. In it you'll find Borgel, Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario, The Worms of Kukumlima, and The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror, none of which will disappoint. Fans will want to pick up 5 Novels as well, a collection which includes Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars, Slaves of Spiegel, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, The Last Guru, and Young Adult Novel.

What are Pinkwater's novels like? Imagine the wondrous science fiction classic A Wrinkle in Time without the heavy cosmos stuff--and seventy times funnier. (In Borgel, for example, 111-year-old Uncle Borgel compares the concept of time to a map of the state of New Jersey and describes space as "sort of like a bagel, but an elliptical one, with poppy seeds.") His fast-paced and funny adventure stories are philosophical and moral, though undercut with such delightfully irreverent goofiness that they never lose their buoyancy, not for a second. Pinkwater reaches out to the kids all over the planet who feel like "the boy from Mars," and shows them that everything is not only going to be just fine, but that life is pretty darn magical. (Ages 9 to 109) --Karin Snelson

Bongo Larry

Daniel Manus Pinkwater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

One day, Martin Frobisher, owner of the Hotel Larry, gets a phone call. It is the police, and they have taken Larry (a polar bear and family friend) into custody for playing a drum in a public park. ("I was playing bongos, man," Larry insists.) In time--not very much time--it becomes clear that Larry is officially a bohemian, beatnik, beret-toting bear. Wearing shades, he recites poems such as "Are Muffins Like Fish?", burns candles, and plays bongos while he sips blueberry juice and paints blueberry muffins (and fish).

Rather than bemoan Larry's beatnik-ness, the family (Martin, his wife, Semolina, and young Mildred) decide to don their coolest, craziest clothes and slink down to Cafe Mama Bear with him, where he bongos with Big Bear, "the ever-loving, double-clutching, non-stop, groovy King of Cool." Together they lay some sweet sounds on the audience, with 'frantic rhythms.'" Daniel Pinkwater's work is always fresh and original, and Jill Pinkwater's colorful, cartoonish depictions of beat polar bears are groovy, too. Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap. We dig it! (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson