Gooseberry Park

by Cynthia Rylant, Arthur Howard (Illustrator)

Overview

This "impeccably paced fantasy"* from Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant is a don't-miss classic animal adventure.

Told from the perspective of four animal friends and filled with charming black-and-white illustrations, Gooseberry Park works well both as a read-aloud and as a fun independent book for second through fourth graders.

Stumpy Squirrel has just settled into a new nest in a magnificent pin oak in Gooseberry Park. It’s the perfect spot for her babies to be born! When they arrive healthy and strong, Stumpy’s three good friends—a Labrador retriever, a wise hermit crab, and a bat—are thrilled.

But after a terrible ice storm destroys the pin oak, Stumpy disappears. It takes a special combination of courage, humor, and tenacity for Stumpy’s friends to rescue her babies and bring her home again.

Plus the adventures continue in Gooseberry Park and the Master Plan and the third book in the series, A Kitten in Gooseberry Park.

*starred Publishers Weekly review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152061593
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/01/2007
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	187,996
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	780L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Cynthia Rylant is a Newbery medalist and the author of many acclaimed books for young people. She's well known for her popular characters for early readers, including Mr. Putter & Tabby and Henry & Mudge. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. cynthiarylant.com

Arthur Howard created the lively illustrations for all of the Mr. Putter & Tabby books and has written and illustrated several picture books of his own. He lives in New York City.
 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[set star] "First-rate entertainment. Readers will relish every moment of this impeccably paced fantasy."—Publishers Weekly "Sophisticated and funny . . . A tender tale delivered by a sure hand."—Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

"First-rate entertainment. Readers will relish every moment of this impeccably paced fantasy and its winning depictions of the unique perspectives and quandaries of four unlikely companions." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Sophisticated and funny. A tender tale delivered by a sure hand." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

An assortment of domesticated pets and untamed creatures band together to help a friend in need in the Newbery Medalist's rollicking animal tale. At the center is Stumpy, a squirrel who gives birth to triplets shortly before her nest in Gooseberry Park is destroyed by an ice storm. Thanks to the ingenuity of Gwendolyn, a Labrador owned by a retired professor; Kona, a wise old hermit crab; and a prankster bat named Murray, Stumpy's babies are rescued and taken to cozy quarters in the professor's basement. The problem? Having left the newborns under the care of Murray, Stumpy has wandered off for help and cannot be found. The adventures of Gwendolyn, Kona and Murray as they nurture the baby squirrels, raid the professor's cupboards and eventually devise a scheme to reunite Stumpy with her brood add up to first-rate entertainment. Readers will relish every moment of this impeccably paced fantasy and its winning depictions of the unique perspectives and quandaries of four unlikely companions. Ages 8-12. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 3-5-Kona, an earnest Labrador retriever; Gwendolyn, a wise hermit crab who has been reincarnated 17 times; Murray, a loopy, Chinese leftover-eating bat; and Stumpy, a squirrel, come together during a terrible ice storm in Gooseberry Park to save Stumpy's three babies. Rylant's spare prose results in a trim tale. She does a beautiful job of creating the players, deftly drawing personalities. Murray, in particular, with his occasional snide remarks, is charming. From the humor, especially the wordplay and sarcasm, the book appears to be intended for the older elementary-school crowd, though the annoyingly smug tone of the omniscient narrator, particularly in the first chapter, might put them off. The plot holds together well, even though the oblivion of Kona's absent-minded master, Professor Albert, stretches it a trifle thin. If readers can get past the first few chapters, they will find a story they will want to finish. Howard's appealing black-and-white cartoons appear throughout.-Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA

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