Bookverdict.com

Gr 4–8—Using 16 pages of abbreviated handwritten notes from 1880 and outlining a tale Twain made up for his daughters, Stead has created a rhythmic and imaginative story seamlessly blended with intermittent "discussions" between the two authors. Twain's story is set in a land where "the luckless and hungry remain luckless and hungry for all of their lives," while "in the United States of America, everyone and everything is given a fair and equal chance. It would be rude to believe otherwise." Young Joh...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

From Twain's notes on a bedtime tale spun for his children, Philip Stead develops a folktale-like American story with heaping dollops of nonsense. It involves our hero, the orphaned Johnny (whom illustrator Erin Stead envisions as a young African American boy); his pet chicken; a handful of blue seeds given to him by an old woman after he is kind to her; and of course a life-expanding journey for its protagonist. After eating a flower grown from one of the "beautiful and plain" seeds, Johnny can understand a...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

From Twain's notes on a bedtime tale spun for his children, Philip Stead develops a folktale-like American story with heaping dollops of nonsense. It involves our hero, the orphaned Johnny (whom illustrator Erin Stead envisions as a young African American boy); his pet chicken; a handful of blue seeds given to him by an old woman after he is kind to her; and of course a life-expanding journey for its protagonist. After eating a flower grown from one of the "beautiful and plain" seeds, Johnny can understand a...Log In or Sign Up to Read More