Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #247887 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Released on: 2005-08-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

Amazon.com Review

Amazon.com's Significant Seven
Mordicai Gerstein graciously agreed to answer the questions we like to ask every author: the Amazon.com Significant Seven.

Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: Alice in Wonderland. I read it as a child, and then read it to each of my three children, and it always knocked me out.
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: The book: The most complete anthology of poetry in English from earliest to now. The music: Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, books one and two. The movie: Beat the Devil.

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: I never tell lies.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: Early summer morning in the Adirondacks in an attic room looking out over a meadow at the high peaks.

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: "The world is an endlessly beautiful place, and the food is spectacular. Please don't screw it up."

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: My mother, who died in 1970.

Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: Flight!

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4–The last giant on Earth has fallen hopelessly in love with the moon. Despite his desperate entreaties, which last for 5000 years, the moon ignores him. In despair, he lies down and weeps for another 10,000 years. Hugene eventually falls asleep and is gradually transformed into a grassy mountain. One hundred thousand years later, people build a town on him, but they live in total silence so as not to wake him. When Carolinda Clatter is born, however, she makes noise of every kind, despite everyone's warnings. But the bigger she grew, the louder she got. The giant awakens, and she is sent to put him back to sleep. Carolinda convinces Hugene that he is now a mountain and cannot dance to her songs. She also convinces him that he is loved by the people living on him as well as by the moon. The now-contented giant falls back to sleep, never to wake again, and the townspeople are free to be as noisy as they like. Gerstein's expert artwork conveys both the melancholy aspect of the lovesick giant as well as the peaceful dreamlike state he eventually attains. The book is thoughtfully designed, with small panels showing the passage of time, and full spreads highlighting momentous events. The plot, however, is problematic, as Carolinda's claims that the giant is now loved conflicts with the fact that the townspeople exist in fearful silence, and the moon remains oblivious to Hugene except in his dreams. This is a lovely but flawed endeavor.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* PreS-Gr. 2. In his first picture book since the 2003 Caldecott Medal winner The Man Who Walked between the Towers, Gerstein offers a winning tall tale about "a lonely giant who fell in love with the moon." In full-spread and panel illustrations, Gerstein shows the infatuated giant singing beneath a coolly unimpressed moon. Finally, the mournful giant lies down, and for thousands of years he sleeps and weeps, grass and trees covering his body, until a town, Pupickton (a play on the Yiddish word for bellybutton), forms over his stomach. Afraid of waking the giant beneath, the townspeople live in near silence. Then little Carolinda Clatter is born and shatters the town's hush: "I can't help it . . . I love noise!" Eventually, she rouses the giant, and after tense negotiations, she helps him reconcile his affections for the moon. Thereafter, the town lives noisily and freely, singing its giant to sleep every evening with lullabies. The story may be a bit too long to hold restless children, but Gerstein tells his whimsical tale with direct humor, and his lovely paint-and-ink illustrations extend the comedy in scenes of the dancing giant and bucolic Pupickton, a silhouette of the snoring giant's open mouth on the town's horizon. Most of all, children will cheer for wild-haired, exuberant Carolinda, who defies adult rules and heals the giant's heart with joyful noise. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A superb and fun book to read to a class!
I read this book to my preschool class and they were captivated. It has such a nice mix of dialogue and narrative, with wonderful illustrations to match!

A chorus for Clatter
This book is a wonderful tale with terrific illustrations. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a tall tale.

great story to read aloud
I'm surprised that the professional reviewers consider this a flawed book. It makes perfect sense to me and the alleged flaws in the plot are amply explained. My almost-six-year-old twin girls love this story and I love reading it to them.

Calling the town "Pupickton" is very cute and funny for those familiar with the Yiddish term for belly button.

5 stars.