Product Description

Addressing themes of courage, curiosity, adventure, daring, and good triumphing over bad, this compilation contains the first seven books of the Tashi series in one great big volume. He's brave. He's bold. He's the best! Tashi is too cunning for the warlord and the wicked baron and far too clever for giants, ghosts, witches, and demons. Best of all, Tashi tells the most fantastic stories. Included here are 14 of his daredevil adventures and a map of Tashi's village and its surroundings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #220222 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Imported from Australia, this rollicking omnibus unites seven books, many of them bestsellers Down Under, and their popularity is easy to understand. A boy named Jack describes his new friend, Tashi, who arrives one day on the back of a swan from a magical country populated with giants, dragons, ghosts and all sorts of other things that go bump in the night. Tashi mesmerizes Jack (and Jack mesmerizes his parents) with tales of his exploits about outwitting a succession of deliciously horrible villains ("I'll pluck out your nose hairs, one by one," a bandit threatens Tashi. Sometimes Tashi tells a story, to Jack; sometimes Jack recounts a Tashi adventure to his parents. In an amusing role reversal, Jack's parents hang breathlessly on their son's every word ("So tell us," Jack's father says. "After Tashi tricked those giants and teased the bandits, how did he meet these ghosts?"), and the dialogue between the storyteller and his audience invisibly tightens the narrative tension. Teasers end each tale (" `So that's the end of the story,' said Jack sadly. `And everyone was safe and happy again.' `Yes,' said Tashi, `that is, until the bandits arrived' "). Appearing one or two to each page, Gamble's playful b&w drawings are an integral part of the fun, making this outsize volume a prime choice for shipping to summer camp with newly independent readers. Best of all, the answers to those cliffhangers are only a turn of a page away. Ages 6-10.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

About the Author
Anna Fienberg is the author of more than 20 children's books, including the Tashi series, the Minton series, and The Hottest Boy Who Ever Lived. Barbara Fienberg is the coauthor of the Tashi series. Kim Gamble is a children's book illustrator.

Customer Reviews

Undiscovered Treasure
Tashi is a really funny book about a little boy who has adventures like Lord of the Rings, but not as scary. He tells the stories to his best friend Jack, who then tells them to his parents. I really like that at the end of each book, when Jack thinks everyone is safe and happy, Tashi always says, Until the Giant (or Bandit, or Dragon, or Ghost or witch...) comes! I recommend this book to everyone- it's a really good book to read out loud- I read it to my parents and even my bad brother liked it!

Katie and her Dad liked this book a lot.
We think Tashi is a excellent book for all ages. Katie is nine and her younger sister is four, and they both liked the book a lot, as did their parents. The stories are not too spooky but exciting. We liked the charming "old country" that Tashi was from, created mostly by the pictures. Tashi has pointy hair and earings and wears a really cool jacket and boots. The houses in the "old country" look Japanese? Chinese? It's hard to say. It looked like a really nice place to live except for the warlords, baron, giants, flying houses, pirates and demons. We got swept up in the magical ride of "The Big Big Big Book of Tashi". We definetly plan to read "Tashi and the Dancing Shoes".

I only wish there were more.
I bought this book to read to my 4 year old son, who is ready for stories with more meat on the bones (a higher word-to-picture ratio and stronger plot) than most picture books. He loved it -- he was so sad the last night when he said "Dad, you forgot to put the bookmark in!" and my husband told him they had read the last story. We'll read it again and again, if his 6 year old sister (who reads at a 3rd grade level) hasn't run off with it -- again! It is great for kids ready for stories with real plot, but not for too-mature themes. Particularly good for boys, just because there are so few for them at this stage; a lot of the other stories in this niche are kind of princessy -- which my daughter loved, but which wasn't right for my son.