As children we all like to think that if we disappeared, our family would miss us terribly. Most children consider running away at some point, partly to test this theory. This story lets the child imagine what it would be like to be away from family.
But the sight of the mourning parents is an expression of love, and is ultimately reassuring rather than harrowing. Not only that, they use him as a picnic table. He then shows the passing of time, which makes the concidence of his parents picnicking on Strawberry Hill a little less of a coincidence. Sylvester goes home with his parents who love him very much. Earlier, the mother said that if he came back she would never scold him again, which plays into another wish fulfilment fantasy typical of children.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble has become a classic, and the most popular book of a popular author-illustrator. It is also intermittently banned because the police are in the shape of pigs.
A storyboard of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Another picture book featuring an anthropomorphised donkey and a happy ending is The Story of Edward by Philippe Dumas published in You must be logged in to post a comment. During the s, Steig's creativity found a more agreeable outlet when he began carving figurines in wood; his sculptures are on display as part of the collection in the historic home of Franklin D.
Kraus suggested that Steig try writing and illustrating a book for a young audience. The result was Steig's letter-puzzle book entitled C D B! Roland the Minstrel Pig, was published the same year. In , Steig published his first children's novel, Dominic, which won the Christopher Award. Abel's Island followed and was a Newberry Honor Book.
William Steig died in October 3, in Boston Massachusettes. Red Oak Foundation tribute. Caldecott medal book.
Our building is currently open for pick-up of materials , 45 minute computer sessions, and browsing of materials. Get Directions. What would happen to a mind trapped in an inanimate object, a mind left entirely to itself, without any stimuli from the outside world? Sylvester on the hill woke up less and less often.
When he was awake, he was only hopeless and unhappy. He felt he would be a rock forever and he tried to get used to it. He went into an endless sleep. It was the thought of his occasional waking up that chilled me to the bone. Sylvester thought he would be a rock forever and he very nearly was. It would have been a ghastly immortality, a grotesque and ironic parody of the human desire for eternal life. He would only last as long as a rock lasts, but how long does a rock last?
My seven year old imagination could not bear to contemplate the number of years, of centuries, of millennia, it takes for a rock to erode, the millions of years it would take for Sylvester to be freed from this wretched existence.
And what would the passage of time mean to Sylvester? Life would go on all round him: Night would follow day, winter would follow autumn, year would follow year. Everything would change, everything except Sylvester. He alone would remain the same. Would the eons of boredom and isolation produce some type of solipsistic madness, some private hell created by a mind condemned to cannibalizing itself? At the end of the story, through a series of highly improbable coincidences, Sylvester was restored to equine form, but my peace of mind was not so easily restored.
Instead of rejoicing along with the reunited Duncan family, I was troubled by metaphysical conundrums which were all the more tormenting because I could not verbalize them. I did not have the theoretical framework or the vocabulary to express such abstract thoughts, so my ontological insecurity remained a vague yet intensely disquieting feeling. Sylvester, as a conscious and self-aware donkey, is being-for-itself. His life, like the lives of all conscious and self-aware beings, is fraught with hungry lions, with rainy days, with difficult decisions and choices.
Uncertainty and anxiety are his lot. Sylvester is not unique in his attempt to become a thing. However, being-for-itself can never become being-in-itself. It is impossible. Sylvester learned this the hard way. He tried to become a thing, a rock, yet he remained self-aware. Bad faith is an act of self-deception.
It is pretending to be a thing. It is going through life asleep. The crisis comes when one suddenly wakes up. There is an alternative to living in bad faith and that is living in revolt.
To live in revolt one must first become aware of the absurdity of life. One must then abandon hope, for hope is merely another form of escape, another act of bad faith. It is the conscious acceptance of absurdity. The opposite of Sylvester is Sisyphus. Camus calls Sisyphus the absurd hero because he suffers without hope, without despair, and with full awareness of the futility of his endless labor.
Sisyphus knows he will never succeed. He knows the rock he struggles to push up the mountain will roll back down every time. It is his awareness of his fate which is his punishment, his own private hell, but it is also his triumph over that fate.
Sisyphus never ceases to be Sisyphus. He never wishes to change places with his rock. When Sylvester finally woke up he wished he were himself again. Sylvester was lucky.
Some people never wake up. Some people never become themselves again. The desire to be a rock is hard to overcome, yet life as a rock is an ontological nightmare.
As a child, I knew this intuitively. There are moments of panic when it seems better to be a rock and I have had my share of panic. I am no stranger to bad faith. I have also woken up, like Sylvester, and wanted to be myself again, wanted to accept the absurdity of life and the burdensome freedom that is the torture and the triumph of being-for-itself.
But I am no Sisyphus yet. And this is no storybook ending. Sometimes I still hope and sometimes I despair, yet when push comes to shove, I would rather be an ass than a rock. View 2 comments. Shelves: childrens , fiction , readbooks-male-author-or-illust , picture-books , z , zz-4star , reviewed. I love the watercolor drawings. Well, I guess the moral of this one is to be very careful what you wish for. Very, very, very careful.
Sylvester and his parents go through the gamut of emotions while he is missing, from glee to fear to despondency, from grief to joy. I did care about Sylvester and his parents and what they go through.
View all 9 comments. Jul 04, Mir rated it really liked it Shelves: picture. This was great, although I was a little disturbed as a child by how long poor Sylvester is stuck as a rock, and how beyond help he is. But all's well that ends well! I still prefer The Amazing Bone , though. Aug 20, Ivonne Rovira rated it really liked it Shelves: children-literature , children-classics.
Young donkey Sylvester Duncan discovers a polished, red pebble that grants wishes, and he believes that the magic pebble will solve everything. My eight-year-old granddaughter read this to me this weekend. It's one of her favorites from my collection of our children's books. I don't remember reading it as a child, but we have the paperback version, so it may have been one of my brothers' or sisters' favorites.
It's a good story about appreciating family with a bit of magic. I've lost count how many times we've read this one so it's definitely a keeper if she chooses to read it on her own. Jul 31, Kathryn rated it really liked it Shelves: childrens-picture-books. I didn't remember much about this story, though the illustrations are familiar. I was surprised how sad and aching the story is, on the whole; perhaps it's just that I'm reading it now as a parent and it's so very chilling to think of what Sylvester's parents are going through.
And poor Sylvester as a rock that whole time! It's probably equally chilling to read it as a child--the thought of being separated from your parents all that time! The ending is so heartwarming and I love the message, t I didn't remember much about this story, though the illustrations are familiar. The ending is so heartwarming and I love the message, though. As I understand it, the book was banned because the police are portrayed as pigs; an unfortunate casting choice by Steig, to be sure.
Jun 29, midnightfaerie rated it really liked it Shelves: childrens. This was my favorite read of the day by far. Something I picked up because it's a Caldecott award winner.
Although the pictures were cute, I didn't necessarily think that they should have been awarded the Caldecott. But the story more than made up for it. Perhaps, growing up with Richard Scary books read to me, I'm spoiled when it comes to animals dressed up as people telling stories.
In any case, still a wonderful read. Not something I'd recommend for preschoolers, as my 2 yr old twins, almost This was my favorite read of the day by far. Not something I'd recommend for preschoolers, as my 2 yr old twins, almost 3, weren't at all interested, but my 5 yr old and I were enchanted. Nov 20, Joe rated it it was amazing. Wonderful book. William Steig is an oddball writer in the best sense of the term, like a quirky grandfather dialing into kid-wavelength as only a few genius story-tellers can do.
His vocabulary is as demanding as the themes he evokes. I read this with my 5-year-old grandson yesterday — 3 times. On the first pass we simply absorbed the story. Both of us were worried and sad during the extended middle section of the story, then gratified by the happy outcome at the end. On the second pass my grand Wonderful book. On the second pass my grandson stopped me at times and asked "What is panicky?
These are serious but healthy questions. On the third pass we talked about how it would feel to be a stone, and to have your sad parents sit on you while having a picnic, and how special it would be to have a magic pebble, and how you have to be careful with magic powers. After an hour of this my brain was utterly exhausted, and my grandson was that much wiser.
What a powerful story, to do all this. And it all was initiated by my grandson: he chose the book, he asked the questions, he asked for the repeat readings. I wouldn't recommend forcing this book on some kid who wasn't receptive to it, but View all 3 comments.
Mar 11, Ben Loory rated it it was amazing. Shelves: caldecott , sweet-youth , fairy-tales , picture-books. When Sylvester finds a beautiful red pebble one day, the rock-collecting donkey is delighted. When that pebble turns out to be a magical stone that grants wishes, he is even more overjoyed, and rushes home to share the largess with his loving parents.
Unfortunately, a chance encounter with a lion on his way, and a hastily made wish, see him transformed into an inanimate stone, with little prospect of ever being released from his self-inflicted enchantment. As Sylvester's parents begin their long When Sylvester finds a beautiful red pebble one day, the rock-collecting donkey is delighted. As Sylvester's parents begin their long search for him, he sits quietly in the meadow, unable to move.
Will he ever become a donkey again, or be reunited with his parents? Apparently this charming picture-book - first published in , and awarded a Caldecott Medal in - has been challenged in at least eleven states! Why you ask? Because its tale of a donkey who accidentally wishes himself into a stone, thereby causing grief to his loving parents, and to himself, is too disturbing for youngsters? Because it contains magic in the first place, and that might give impressionable young readers the 'wrong' idea?
Again, no! This one was challenged because the police officers in the story - the helpful police officers who comfort Sylvester's parents, and try to help them find their son - are depicted as pigs! Of course, there's also a housewife depicted as a pig, but housewives aren't quite as organized as the police, who began challenging Sylvester and the Magic Pebble in , in Indiana. That sound you hear is me rolling my eyes In any case, I'm glad I finally had a chance to read this classic of the picture-book genre, as I think it really is delightful, with an engrossing tale that treats childhood with the respect it deserves - no, children aren't all sweetness and light, and yes, they experience dark realities - and expressive artwork that captures both the humor and terror of Sylvester's predicament.
Sep 29, Mehsi rated it it was ok Shelves: picture-books , octarine , warning-english-books , 2-twinkling-stars , children-s-books. This is the seventh book for this week. This book was banned because it portrayed the police as pigs.
Sylvester loves collecting pebbles, especially pretty ones. And then one day he finds a magical one, one that grants wishes!
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