NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
Author and narrator Philip Stead created this funny, rollicking story from a set of notes by Mark Twain. Stead capably voices the humorous chapter introductions and author asides, which provide a framework for the fable. Keegan-Michael Key narrates the tale of young Johnny, his pet chicken, and all his other animal friends. Key’s combination of verve and gentleness reflects Johnny’s sweet nature and willingness to set off on a great adventure. Mark Bramhall delights as the crotchety Twain, who argues with Stead over story details between chapters. With Julia Whelan and Frances Gilbert performing as Susy Clemens and the voice of the Editor’s Note, this production creates a unique audio experience and maintains the unusual format of the text without sacrificing clarity. N.M. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Adam Gopnik
Erin Stead's illustrations are a pleasure in themselves, spacious, sad, washy—her animals drawn with a graceful cross-hatched intelligence that seems close to the best of Wyeth. The book is also designed with great intelligence, with large areas of calming white space around both text and drawings, adding a note of pensive longing to the tale…The stately unfolding of Twain's adapted outline also feels refreshing in its rejection of the hyperhysteria and violence that fills so many children's books now, putting in its place of a kind of charmingly paced lugubriousness. Real life, after all, takes place in the microdramatics of incident, not in the frenetic kitsch of adventures, with adversity producing neat "lessons" for the protagonists. Stories told by masters tend to reach us best by hints and understatement: Real growth, in life and nature alike, takes place almost invisibly.
Publishers Weekly
★ 07/10/2017
Working from notes Twain made after telling an especially successful bedtime story, Philip C. Stead completes the tale of gentle Johnny, whose heart is pure despite his bleak surroundings and cruel grandfather. A magic flower gives him the power to understand the speech of animals, and a menagerie of kindly creatures helps him win the reward for finding the kingdom’s lost Prince Oleomargarine—an insufferable twit, as it turns out. In postmodern fashion, Johnny’s odyssey is often interrupted by imagined banter between Twain and Stead, who sit outside an island cabin and argue about how to proceed. Erin Stead’s exquisite woodblock-and-pencil prints give the creamy pages an ethereal feel; her detailed close-up portraits of the main characters create a sense of intimate acquaintance. Even the action spreads have the stately appearance of medieval tapestries, as when Johnny and his animal family appear before the king: the tiny monarch, a tad defensive about his stature, sits on a throne that elevates him almost to the ceiling, putting him face-to-face with the delegation’s giraffe. At the story’s heart is a plea for honesty and kindness, expressed in its purest form by Johnny, who—unlike his voluble authors—doesn’t say much. “Then he opened his mouth and discovered the words that could save mankind from all its silly, ceaseless violence.... He said: ‘I am glad to know you.’ ” Stead stays faithful to Twain with a cast of eccentric characters, celestially fine writing, and a crusade against pomp that doesn’t sacrifice humor. Ages 8–12. Agent: (for the Mark Twain House and Museum) Tina Wexler, ICM; (for the Steads) Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2017
A Bank Street College of Education 2018 Best Children's Book of the Year
"will capture the imaginations of readers of all ages"—USA Today, ★ ★ ★ ★ (out of four stars)
★ "Samuel Langhorne Clemens himself would be proud."—Booklist, starred review
★ "a cast of eccentric characters, celestially fine writing, and a crusade against pomp that doesn't sacrifice humor."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ "Completing a story penned by arguably America's greatest author is no easy feat, but the Caldecott-winning author-illustrator (and husband-wife) team proves more than equal to the task. . . . A pensive and whimsical work that Twain would applaud."—Kirkus, starred review
★ "The combination of Twain’s (often sarcastic) humor and “lessons of life,” a touch of allegory, and Stead’s own storytelling skills result in an awesome piece of fantasy."—School Library Journal, starred review
★ "Beautifully understated and nuanced illustrations by Erin Stead add the finishing flourishes to this remarkable work."—Shelf Awareness, starred review
“drawn with a graceful crosshatched intelligence that seems close to the best of Wyeth.”—Adam Gopnik, The New York Times
"Twain and the two Steads have created what could become a read-aloud classic, perfect for families to enjoy together."—The Horn Book
"artful and meta and elegant”—The Wall Street Journal
"should inspire readers young and old to seek further adventures with Twain."—The Washington Post
"Johnny is destined to become as much a part of Twain lore as Tom, Huck, Jim and The Mysterious Stranger."—Hartford Courant
"bound to become a reading staple for all ages."—RealSimple.com
"Philip Stead brilliantly captures Twain's style, his homespun humor, his wordplay, his biting wit, his sympathy for the powerless and his disdain for the mighty."—The Buffalo News
School Library Journal
★ 09/01/2017
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 Johnny, the main character, lives with his mean old grandfather on a piece of arid land with a withered old apple tree and a chicken that his grandfather has ordered him to sell at the market "for something worth eating." Along the way, he meets an old blind woman who trades a handful of blue seeds she obtained from a fairy for the chicken. After eating the flower that grows from the blue seed, Johnny is able to converse with animals who provide a banquet, help build him a house, and lead him to the missing Prince Oleomargarine. Here Twain disappears, and Stead is obliged to provide the story's ending. Erin Stead's numerous softly detailed illustrations in muted browns, greens, and yellows; laser cuttings; and block-printed silhouettes bring the unusual cast of characters to life. VERDICT The combination of Twain's (often sarcastic) humor and "lessons of life," a touch of allegory, and Stead's own storytelling skills result in an awesome piece of fantasy.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH
NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
Author and narrator Philip Stead created this funny, rollicking story from a set of notes by Mark Twain. Stead capably voices the humorous chapter introductions and author asides, which provide a framework for the fable. Keegan-Michael Key narrates the tale of young Johnny, his pet chicken, and all his other animal friends. Key’s combination of verve and gentleness reflects Johnny’s sweet nature and willingness to set off on a great adventure. Mark Bramhall delights as the crotchety Twain, who argues with Stead over story details between chapters. With Julia Whelan and Frances Gilbert performing as Susy Clemens and the voice of the Editor’s Note, this production creates a unique audio experience and maintains the unusual format of the text without sacrificing clarity. N.M. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2017-07-02
This recently discovered Twain fairy tale finds life as a picture book.Completing a story penned by arguably America's greatest author is no easy feat, but the Caldecott-winning author-illustrator (and husband-wife) team proves more than equal to the task, transforming Twain's jotted notes in an 1879 journal entry about a story told to his daughters into a beautifully illustrated fable that showcases the exemplary talents of all three artists. The tale follows the adventures of Johnny, a kindhearted African-American child being raised by his cruel grandfather. Forced to sell his only friend—a pet chicken—Johnny, rather like Jack before him, instead acquires seeds, the flowers from which enable him to converse with animals. When Prince Oleomargarine—the kingdom's heir—is kidnapped, Johnny and his animal friends mount a rescue. Interwoven through the fairy tale is a series of author's notes detailing a fictitious meeting between Twain and the author, from which this story emerges. Twain's presence in the narrative allows Philip Stead to both acknowledge his literary debt and retain the freedom to make the tale his own. He is aided by Erin Stead's sublime print illustrations, which demonstrate her masterful ability to create physical presence and characters' emotions as well as landscapes; the muted greens, soft blues, and light pinkish-brown hues of her double-page spreads set a magical tone for a world that mirrors, but is not quite, our own. A pensive and whimsical work that Twain would applaud. (Picture book. 8-adult)
