Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Macmillan Company (1942), Edition: 1, 152 pages
Description
After she is made tiny by magic, Twig finds friendship and adventure with Elf, the Fairy Queen, and the Sparrow family.
User reviews
LibraryThing member catz
The author put Twig in an ants shoes and I really like how authors have that sort of power.
LibraryThing member Treeseed
Twig is a perfectly charming book originally published in 1942 that was written and illustrated by the talented Elizabeth Orton Jones whose nickname is Twig. It is the story of a little girl named Twig who lives with her parents on the fourth floor of a tenement building. Her family is poor and she
The rest of the book tells the story that ensues when Mrs. Sparrow finds a small elf named Elf at the public library and flies him home to meet Twig. Elf, as it turns out, has in his possession a mysterious book of magic spells and he is able to shrink Twig down to his size. They take up residence in the tomato can and experience adventures that culminate in meeting the beautiful Queen of the Fairies and also a funny wise old character called Lord Buzzle Cobb-Webb, a leading magician among the fairies.
The book's publishers say that it is intended for 9-12 year old age group but I think it is actually more fitting for the 5-9 year old group. Older children could read it for themselves but the story line is too purposely "precious" for modern 10-12 year olds in my opinion. I think the book is best when read aloud to children and will delight young children. The author frequently uses onomatopoeia in the telling of this story which makes this an engaging book to experience aloud and a fun experience to share with little listeners.
The story has a couple of clever alternate story lines and a cute plot twist at the end that will tickle the older child and any adult readers but may go over the heads of the younger listeners. This will not effect their enjoyment of the book in any way. The story cleverly entertains with its fairy plot but also offers food for thought and a helpful message for children about the imagination and about the value of a person. The book is a short chapter novel and as such will need three or four readings aloud to complete. A grade school student who reads it on their own will polish it off in about the same time.
The book's illustrations are my favorite part. They are detailed, whimsical and imaginative, bringing the characters to life. Elizabeth Orton Jones won the Caldecott Medal for her illustrations of Rachel Field's Prayer for a Child in 1945 and is the illustrator of probably the best loved and well known version of Little Red Riding Hood, the one published by Western Publishing as a Little Golden Book. The illustrations are water color and ink and are printed here in four colors, red, green, yellow and black. Red and green combinations also provide a shade of brown to some of the illustrations. The result while not overly colorful is charming in its simplicity and has the effect of drawing the viewer's attention more to the detail of the artwork. The illustrations appear on at least every fourth page. Some are full page illustrations appearing alone on a page with no text and some are found within the text. The full pages of text that are found are not boring for children if read aloud because of the lively way in which the story is related and because of the swiftness of the turning of events.
I also like the fact that even though the subject of fairies is a very common one in children's literature the fairies from the pen of Elizabeth Orton Jones have lots of personality and some wonderful unique little details. When Mrs. Sparrow meets Elf for the first time she sees that he is wearing a little suit that seems to be made of leather. It turns out that his clothes are made from a potato skin. The Queen of the Fairies wears a "smart little fur collar." One day when the queen has left the collar behind and has gone off with Twig, Elf is astonished when it walks away! When he tries to explain to a scolding Twig, he learns from the understanding Fairy Queen that it is completely alright...after all the "collar" was a caterpillar.
All in all, I think this is a darling book for children and I think it has held up well to time's changes.
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wears patched shoes and a worn-out dress. Her world consists of the backyard of her building, a bleak little place where nothing but a single dandelion grows. The only "scenery" is a tiny stream created by a leaky drain-pipe. Twig is lonely even though she has made friends with Sparrow and Mrs. Sparrow, two birds who nest in the alley adjacent to Twig's building as well as Old Boy, the ice-wagon horse and Old Girl, a stray cat. One day Twig finds a discarded tomato can and she thinks that when it is turned on end it looks just like a perfect house for a fairy. The rest of the book tells the story that ensues when Mrs. Sparrow finds a small elf named Elf at the public library and flies him home to meet Twig. Elf, as it turns out, has in his possession a mysterious book of magic spells and he is able to shrink Twig down to his size. They take up residence in the tomato can and experience adventures that culminate in meeting the beautiful Queen of the Fairies and also a funny wise old character called Lord Buzzle Cobb-Webb, a leading magician among the fairies.
The book's publishers say that it is intended for 9-12 year old age group but I think it is actually more fitting for the 5-9 year old group. Older children could read it for themselves but the story line is too purposely "precious" for modern 10-12 year olds in my opinion. I think the book is best when read aloud to children and will delight young children. The author frequently uses onomatopoeia in the telling of this story which makes this an engaging book to experience aloud and a fun experience to share with little listeners.
The story has a couple of clever alternate story lines and a cute plot twist at the end that will tickle the older child and any adult readers but may go over the heads of the younger listeners. This will not effect their enjoyment of the book in any way. The story cleverly entertains with its fairy plot but also offers food for thought and a helpful message for children about the imagination and about the value of a person. The book is a short chapter novel and as such will need three or four readings aloud to complete. A grade school student who reads it on their own will polish it off in about the same time.
The book's illustrations are my favorite part. They are detailed, whimsical and imaginative, bringing the characters to life. Elizabeth Orton Jones won the Caldecott Medal for her illustrations of Rachel Field's Prayer for a Child in 1945 and is the illustrator of probably the best loved and well known version of Little Red Riding Hood, the one published by Western Publishing as a Little Golden Book. The illustrations are water color and ink and are printed here in four colors, red, green, yellow and black. Red and green combinations also provide a shade of brown to some of the illustrations. The result while not overly colorful is charming in its simplicity and has the effect of drawing the viewer's attention more to the detail of the artwork. The illustrations appear on at least every fourth page. Some are full page illustrations appearing alone on a page with no text and some are found within the text. The full pages of text that are found are not boring for children if read aloud because of the lively way in which the story is related and because of the swiftness of the turning of events.
I also like the fact that even though the subject of fairies is a very common one in children's literature the fairies from the pen of Elizabeth Orton Jones have lots of personality and some wonderful unique little details. When Mrs. Sparrow meets Elf for the first time she sees that he is wearing a little suit that seems to be made of leather. It turns out that his clothes are made from a potato skin. The Queen of the Fairies wears a "smart little fur collar." One day when the queen has left the collar behind and has gone off with Twig, Elf is astonished when it walks away! When he tries to explain to a scolding Twig, he learns from the understanding Fairy Queen that it is completely alright...after all the "collar" was a caterpillar.
All in all, I think this is a darling book for children and I think it has held up well to time's changes.
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LibraryThing member jugglingpaynes
This is a sweet story, originally published in 1942, about a little girl who uses her imagination to create a magical world in her tiny urban backyard. It would work well as a read-aloud with young children. The language is repetitive, but in imitation of a child excitedly speaking and grasping for
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words in their limited vocabulary. I could picture my own kids telling me this story about playing house with fairies and elves. Certain details date the tale, like the ice-wagon horse, but this does not detract from the charm of this simple story and its magical illustrations. Show Less
LibraryThing member lucybrown
This was one of my daughter's favorite books. For along time she would want her hair done "like Twig's." In fact we still call her Twig since she wanted a fairy to come live us. And One Did! A very sweet book.
LibraryThing member lucybrown
This was one of my daughter's favorite books. For along time she would want her hair done "like Twig's." In fact we still call her Twig since she wanted a fairy to come live us. And One Did! A very sweet book.
LibraryThing member lucybrown
This was one of my daughter's favorite books. For along time she would want her hair done "like Twig's." In fact we still call her Twig since she wanted a fairy to come live us. And One Did! A very sweet book.
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Hm. A little twee and old-fashioned, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I know I would have loved this as a girl. So, I probably should rate it higher, but I just wasn't all that charmed at this time. It is cool that it takes place in an urban setting, helping us realize that our
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i-ma-gi-na-tion" [sic] can help us find magic anywhere, not just in bower-bedecked meadows. But it was just too babyish for me, despite being a full-length chapter book." Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1942
Physical description
152 p.; 8.54 inches