Status
Available
Call number
Publication
HarperTrophy (HarperCollins)
Pages
181
Description
When a strange little man comes to the Coven Tree Church Social promising he can give people exactly what they ask for, three young believers-in-magic each make a wish that comes true in the most unexpected way.
Description
A Newbery Honor Book that the New York Times called "an eerie delight," The Wish Giver is an engaging literary folk story about those who get what they wish for—whether they want it or not.
The people of Coven Tree are no strangers to magic. In fact, the town's very name comes from a gnarled old tree where covens of witches used to gather. Even now, imps and fiends continue to appear, frightening the townsfolk with their devilish pranks.
Usually these creatures are easy to spot. They have a particular smell, or sound, or way of moving, that betrays their dark nature.
But Thaddeus Blinn showed none of these signs when he came to Coven Tree. He was just a funny little man who drifted into town with a strange tale about being able to give people whatever they wished—for only fifty cents.
There was nothing scary about him. At least, not until the wishing began...
Includes:
The Strange Little Man
Jug-a-Rum
The Tree Man
Water, Water, Everywhere
Bound in everbind binding, buckram.
Barcode is inside back cover.
The people of Coven Tree are no strangers to magic. In fact, the town's very name comes from a gnarled old tree where covens of witches used to gather. Even now, imps and fiends continue to appear, frightening the townsfolk with their devilish pranks.
Usually these creatures are easy to spot. They have a particular smell, or sound, or way of moving, that betrays their dark nature.
But Thaddeus Blinn showed none of these signs when he came to Coven Tree. He was just a funny little man who drifted into town with a strange tale about being able to give people whatever they wished—for only fifty cents.
There was nothing scary about him. At least, not until the wishing began...
Includes:
The Strange Little Man
Jug-a-Rum
The Tree Man
Water, Water, Everywhere
Bound in everbind binding, buckram.
Barcode is inside back cover.
Series
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1983
Physical description
181 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0064401685 / 9780064401685
Similar in this library
Media reviews
BookHive
Jim (BookHive (www.bookhive.org))
Thaddeus Blinn has come to the village of Coven Tree to grant you your wish. Thaddeus Blinn is The Wish Giver . Enter his tent and pay only .50 cents for a wish. Then you will learn what happens when wishes come true! The book follows the wishes of three
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villagers: Polly Kemp, who says whatever she wants; Rowena Jervis, a young girl who is madly in love; and Adam Fiske, a boy who only wants his family's farm to have some water. It is a magical twist to the old adage: be careful for what you wish for, it might (will) come true! Once again, Bill Brittain entertains you with just enough alarming mayhem to draw you deep into the world of Coven Tree. Category: Fantasy; Scary. Grade Level: Intermediate (4th-6th grade). 1983, Harper & Row. Ages 9 to 12. Show Less
Lexile
720L
User reviews
LibraryThing member YV21
It was a really good book for those people who like fantasy. It was about a lot of kids who wished something they desired except one, Stew Meat.
LibraryThing member the_hag
A simple story from a largely forgotten time in the U.S., when traveling carnivals were more common and a “big deal” when they did come into town. I thought it was cute and very appropriate for reader’s 8-10 ish (or so). I didn’t realize there was a book before this one, the Devil’s
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Donkey…but since I’ve decided not to trade The Wish Giver away (keeping it for the kids to read when they wan to), I’ll probably be getting this one too. The book is written in a chapter style where each chapter is kind of a short story all on it’s own, but the stories all fit together to tell a larger tale in the end. Cute, easy read…and I’d recommend it for kids (though the meaning of the whole thing is rather transparent…be careful what you wish for). Show Less
LibraryThing member hippieJ
once again, this book is right up in the twilight range as far as favorites go. beware of the red dotted cards! the only summary for this book i can give is BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
LibraryThing member emilycsims
As a child, I absolutely loved this book. The idea of a stranger coming to town and doling out wishes was fascinating to me, and of course I understood the lesson: Be careful what you wish for!
LibraryThing member alyssajane
this book has good aventers and magical lands polly (the main charecter)has this magical thing with a dot,it can grant any wish at all,but when she tries to make a wish"I wish people would finally notes me,but most of all I wish agetha would invite me to her house for tea"but then all of a sudden
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the dot turns red and gets realy realy hot polly lets go of it and it gose straight under the bed.The next day polly startes croking like a frog she got attention just not the kind of attention she was hoping for....... Show Less
LibraryThing member JillianWilliams
The Wish Giver takes place in a small close knit farm town in New England called Coven Tree. Everyone in this town believes in the existence of magical beings and creatures. One Sunday afternoon at the church social four different people sat in the tent of a strange little man. The four characters
The first part of the story tells the tale of Polly’s wish. Polly wants nothing more than to be invited to the house of Agatha a rich young lady, whom Polly looks up to with admiration. Polly makes a wish for everyone to like her, and notice her. Polly soon finds out that her wish has serious drawbacks. Every time Polly starts to speak her mind in her usual rude manner, she starts croaking like a big toad. Everyone notices Polly and laughs at her. Throughout Polly’s story she learns that if she is nice to people, and complements them she will not croak. Polly also notices that her days end a lot happier when she is nicer to people. Polly soon realizes that no matter what she does she will never be able to say a crossword to anyone ever again even if it is needed. Polly realizes that she was not the only one in the tent, and maybe there is another card left for her to wish on.
The second story is that of Rowena. Rowena is in love with a traveling salesman named Henry Piper. Henry is a smooth talking salesman that charms all the ladies around him. Rowena is convinced that Henry is in love with her. When Henry finally comes to town he comes to visit the farm and sell Rowena’s father some new farm equipment. Rowena talks to Henry after he finishes visiting with her father. Rowena is smitten and begs Henry to stay awhile longer. After Henry leaves Rowena quickly remembers her card and wishes that Henry would make roots in Coven Tree and settle down. Rowena soon here’s a scream from a grove of trees outside, and finds that Henry is stuck to the ground. Rowena cares for Henry until she can find a way to fix what she started. Rowena finds out while caring for Henry, what kind of person he really is. Rowena realizes that he just used her to help him sell equipment to her father. Rowena finally thinks about the other three that were in the tent with her and runs as fast as she can to the store of Stew Meade.
The third story in the book is about Adam. Adam is an older boy who helps his father out with his dried out farm. Adam hates that he has to haul water from a creek that is all the way across town. Adam has to make trips to the creek almost everyday to keep there water supply for cleaning, cooking, and watering the animals and crops. Adams father brings in a man to locate water one day and the man tells them that there is not one drop of water on there land. Adam is very disappointed and decides to make his wish. Adam wishes there was water all over the farm. The next day while digging some holes for fence posts Adam goes inside for a break and soon finds that the holes are spurting water. The family is happy as can be until the next day when there land started to flood. The entire farm gets covered by water and turns into a giant pond. Adam remembers his wish and remembers that with the strange happenings of Polly and Rowena it must be the wish that caused all the problems. Adam thinks of Stew and runs as fast as he can to town.
The last of the story takes place in Stew Meade’s general store. Stew is just closing up shop when the three youngsters come bursting in. Stew calms them all down and listens to their stories. The kids start fighting over who needs there wish revoked the most, but Stew makes his own wish. Stew cancelled out everything and added he did not want any of the trouble that the 3 youngsters encountered upon wishing their wishes.
I loved this book! The book was a great story, and I love how the stories were broken apart but all converged together at the end of the book. The characters were very believable and realistic. I felt like I knew everyone of them personally. I loved the use of language in this book; I think it captures the small town life of close knit communities. It is also great that everyone knows everybody else’s business.
This would be a great book to practice the character webbing with. It would be interesting to use it in literature circles. I think this book would interest the kids and give them a lot to talk about.
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include Polly a young lady that always speaks her mind even if it hurts people around her; Rowena was a 15 year old girl that falls in love easily, Adam a loyal son, and Stew a practical shop owner that is very suspicious of the strange little man Thaddeus Blinn. Thaddeus Blinn talks to the group of four in the tent and sells them each a little white card with a red dot on it. He tells the four that if they press there thumb to this dot, and make a wish, there wish will come true. Everyone leaves the tent feeling cheated and a little foolish for wasting there money on a silly little piece of paper. The story breaks apart after the four main characters leave the smelly canvas tent of Thaddeus Blinn. The first part of the story tells the tale of Polly’s wish. Polly wants nothing more than to be invited to the house of Agatha a rich young lady, whom Polly looks up to with admiration. Polly makes a wish for everyone to like her, and notice her. Polly soon finds out that her wish has serious drawbacks. Every time Polly starts to speak her mind in her usual rude manner, she starts croaking like a big toad. Everyone notices Polly and laughs at her. Throughout Polly’s story she learns that if she is nice to people, and complements them she will not croak. Polly also notices that her days end a lot happier when she is nicer to people. Polly soon realizes that no matter what she does she will never be able to say a crossword to anyone ever again even if it is needed. Polly realizes that she was not the only one in the tent, and maybe there is another card left for her to wish on.
The second story is that of Rowena. Rowena is in love with a traveling salesman named Henry Piper. Henry is a smooth talking salesman that charms all the ladies around him. Rowena is convinced that Henry is in love with her. When Henry finally comes to town he comes to visit the farm and sell Rowena’s father some new farm equipment. Rowena talks to Henry after he finishes visiting with her father. Rowena is smitten and begs Henry to stay awhile longer. After Henry leaves Rowena quickly remembers her card and wishes that Henry would make roots in Coven Tree and settle down. Rowena soon here’s a scream from a grove of trees outside, and finds that Henry is stuck to the ground. Rowena cares for Henry until she can find a way to fix what she started. Rowena finds out while caring for Henry, what kind of person he really is. Rowena realizes that he just used her to help him sell equipment to her father. Rowena finally thinks about the other three that were in the tent with her and runs as fast as she can to the store of Stew Meade.
The third story in the book is about Adam. Adam is an older boy who helps his father out with his dried out farm. Adam hates that he has to haul water from a creek that is all the way across town. Adam has to make trips to the creek almost everyday to keep there water supply for cleaning, cooking, and watering the animals and crops. Adams father brings in a man to locate water one day and the man tells them that there is not one drop of water on there land. Adam is very disappointed and decides to make his wish. Adam wishes there was water all over the farm. The next day while digging some holes for fence posts Adam goes inside for a break and soon finds that the holes are spurting water. The family is happy as can be until the next day when there land started to flood. The entire farm gets covered by water and turns into a giant pond. Adam remembers his wish and remembers that with the strange happenings of Polly and Rowena it must be the wish that caused all the problems. Adam thinks of Stew and runs as fast as he can to town.
The last of the story takes place in Stew Meade’s general store. Stew is just closing up shop when the three youngsters come bursting in. Stew calms them all down and listens to their stories. The kids start fighting over who needs there wish revoked the most, but Stew makes his own wish. Stew cancelled out everything and added he did not want any of the trouble that the 3 youngsters encountered upon wishing their wishes.
I loved this book! The book was a great story, and I love how the stories were broken apart but all converged together at the end of the book. The characters were very believable and realistic. I felt like I knew everyone of them personally. I loved the use of language in this book; I think it captures the small town life of close knit communities. It is also great that everyone knows everybody else’s business.
This would be a great book to practice the character webbing with. It would be interesting to use it in literature circles. I think this book would interest the kids and give them a lot to talk about.
Show Less
LibraryThing member FaithLibrarian
Cute book if an overworked premise.
Talk about the "precision" of words and how you have to really watch what you wish for when several people are given a token by a man at the carnival that will grant them One Wish.
Talk about the "precision" of words and how you have to really watch what you wish for when several people are given a token by a man at the carnival that will grant them One Wish.
LibraryThing member jguidry
This was a cute, kid friendly retelling of "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. The wishes were less gruesome, but still traumatic to the adolescents that were experiencing them. Some of them were actually quite comical. I could definitely see the kid appeal.
LibraryThing member electrascaife
A strange man comes to town for the annual fair, claiming to be able to grant wishes for fifty cents apiece. He sells four wishes, one each to four townspeople, then promptly disappears. The story of each person and their wish is told separately, but by the end they're all nicely entwined.
A fun
A fun
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version of the Foolish Wish trope, but nothing earth-shattering here. Show Less
Awards
Nebraska Golden Sower Award (Nominee — 1986)
Texas Bluebonnet Award (Nominee — 1986)
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 1988)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Children's — 1986)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Children's Fiction — 1986)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 4-8 — 1985)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — 1985-1986)
Newbery Medal (Honor Book — 1984)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee)
Mark Twain Readers Award (Nominee)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Nominee — 1986)
Colorado Children's Book Award (Nominee — 1986)
Call number
J3G.Bri