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Modern Fantasy
Read-aloud
Babbitt, Natalie.  Tuck Everlasting.  Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1975, 123 p.
Introduction:  Chapter 19

In 1880, ten year old Winnie Foster longs to do something important, to escape the regiment of daily life in her wealthy but boring family.  Finally daring to leave her yard, she ventures into the wood and stumbles upon a hidden spring that harbors a dangerous secret and upon its protectors, the family of Angus Tuck.  A drink of the spring water grants one eternal life and freedom from pain and injury.  The Tucks beg Winnie to keep the spring a secret, for its gift becomes a curse to those who drink, as Angus explains to Winnie:  "You can't have living without dying.  So you can't call it living, what we got.  We just are, we just be, like rocks beside the road" (p. 57).

When the villainous "man in the yellow suit" discovers the secret of the spring and plans to sell the water, Winnie is suddenly brought face-to-face with a series of difficult decisions causing her to learn much about herself and about life.  She decides to help protect the Tucks and their secret, even though the villain is accidentally killed by gentle Mae Tuck.  But most importantly, Winnie understands that dying is a normal part of the cycle of living.  She does not give in to the temptation of drinking the magical water, even though she is urged to do so by Jesse Tuck, Mae and Angus's handsome, youngest son who wants Winnie drink the water at age seventeen and then be with him forever.  In the marvelous epilogue, the Tucks drive their wagon and horse back into Winnie's town in 1950 and check the cemetery for Winnie's grave.  Angus is tearfully relieved when he is finally certain that Winnie lived a normal life, not giving in to the terrible attraction of living forever.

I love to hate the man in the yellow suit.  It was interesting to look at how he was described and find the exact words Babbitt used in order to get me to hate him.

Precise, rich language -- "stationary cloud of hysterical gnats suspended in the heat above the road" (p. 10).

Powerful scene:  epilogue (p. 122).

Picture Storybook
Caldecott winner
Read-aloud
Hodges, Margaret (reteller).  Saint George and the Dragon.  Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.  Boston:  Little, Brown, 1984.

According to the title page, this picture book is "A Golden Legend Adapted by Margaret Hodges from Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene."  George, the Red Cross Knight, is bound to serve the Queen of the Fairies for six years, and he is sent by the Queen to battle the most fearful of dragons.  The lovely Una, daughter of the king whose land is being terrorized by the dragon, comes to lead George to her home.  After a long journey, George meets the dragon in battle.  At the end of each day's fighting, George is nearly dead.  However, he is revived by spring waters and dew from an apple tree, both of which have magical healing properties.  Finally the valiant George slays the dreadful worm, freeing the kingdom.  Of course, the king offers Una's hand in marriage.  The two do love each other, so they marry--even though Saint George must continue to serve the Fairy Queen.

The language is wonderfully appropriate for an ancient traditional tale, giving it the flavor of old England.  Yet, the writing is still accessible to children.  "Once more the Red Cross Knight mounted and attacked the dragon.  Once more in vain.  Yet the beast had never before felt such a mighty stroke from the hand of any man, and he was furious for revenge" (p. 16).

Hyman's award-winning illustrations are done in sparkling acrylics.  Each double page spread is bordered with a window frame that gives the appearance of looking at the book through a beveled glass window.  The text is on one side of the double page spread; however, the outer edge of the window around the text is done in "stained glass" which shows additional story scenes and/or is filled with plants that were indigenous to that part of medieval England.  Hyman's careful, representational style makes for paintings filled with detail.  Her characters are generally beautiful people, and these are no exception.  Hyman had a good time doing the dragon--a bright, brassy, tremendously large beast (10 times the size of George's horse!).  The illustrations in this book are used primarily to reinforce facts from the text.  Readers see exactly what Hodges describes.  Of course, Hyman extends upon Hodge's descriptions by further developing character and embellishing setting.  For instance, Una's purity and innocence are mirrored in her gentle facial expressions.