The Funny Thing

by Wanda Gag

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

PZ8.G123 F

Publication

Univ Of Minnesota Press (2003), Edition: First Thus, 32 pages

Description

The Funny Thing is an "aminal" who eats nothing but dolls until the good little man of the mountains gets him to taste the jum jills.

User reviews

LibraryThing member isaacfellows
Ga'g is as weird as her name, and her books are a little nutty. But just for this reason I think at a storytime the children would be drawn into her loopy narratives and art.
LibraryThing member fetta
Worthwhile to just flip through illustrations! Timeless
LibraryThing member cuteraccoon
SO CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LibraryThing member MaowangVater
Bobo, the good little man of the mountains” feeds the birds and squirrels and rabbits and mice with nuts and seeds and cabbage and cheese each suited to the creatures’ tastes. But one day a very strange animal comes to his cave looking for something to eat. “It looked something like a dog and
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also a little like a giraffe, and from the top of its head to the tip of its curled tail, there was a row of beautiful blue points.”

When Bobo inquires what kind of animal it is, it responds that it is not an animal at all. It claims that it is an “aminal,” then demands something to eat. It is completely uninterested in Bobo’s usual fare. It only wants dolls to eat, and the ones taken from good children are the best. Bobo tries to appeal to the sympathy of this strange “aminal,” by attempting to get it to understand that making children cry because their dolls have been devoured is not a good thing to do. But the Funny Thing is unaffected.

So, Bobo tries a different strategy which is flattery. Praising the Funny Thing for its beautiful blue points, he asks it how many jum-jills it must eat to grow so many. The Funny Thing has never heard of a jum-jill. Bobo explains that they are “funny little cakes which make blue points more beautiful and little tails grow into big ones.” Naturally the Funny Thing wants as many of those as it can get. Bobo rushes to his underground kitchen and begins to whip up some jum-jills which consist of a mixture of all the things that he has been feeding to the other animals. When he has a platter full he presents it to the Funny Thing who gobbles them down with great gusto.

The Funny Thing returns every day for more jum-jills until its tail is so long and heavy, as well as beautifully appointed that it’s no longer able to move. “So of course he ate up no more dolls and we have kind old Bobo to thank for that.”
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

32 p.; 9.5 x 6.5 inches

ISBN

0816642419 / 9780816642410
Page: 0.2352 seconds