Margaret Atwood is best known for The Handmaid’s Tale and her other 40 books. But, I stumbled across this child’s book by Atwood and immediately read it. I also enjoyed the illustrations by Dusan Petricic. Each story features alliterative sentences and characters. The first story, “Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes” goes heavy on “R.” “Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda” emphasize “B” and “D.” The last story, “Wander Wenda,” focuses on “W.”
The characters in the stories confront problems. Ramsay runs away from his revolting relatives. Bob is raised by dogs. Dorinda specializes in housework. Wenda and her woodchuck friend have to find a way to outwit the evil Widow Wallop.
If I was a kid just learning to read, I would love A Trio of Tolerable Tales! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes — 9
Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda — 27
Wandering Wenda — 43
Interesting choice. I didn’t know she wrote children’s stories and never heard of this one. I like the illusstrations.
Jeff, while A TRIO OF TOLERABLE TALES is a far cry from THE HANDMAID’S TALE, Atwood’s distinctive voice shows up in every story. Worth a look!
Considering what a ghetto the childrens book field has become with exhaustingly endless fantasy series or, worse, ghost written dreck by D-list celebrities, it’s nice to see a real writer get a few words in.
Byron, A TRIO OF TOLERABLE TALES stands out in sea of contemporary children’s literature dreck. Atwood achieves a lot story-telling in a few words with this book.
There’s no lack of good beginning readers’ books, much as there is no lack of trash in this arena or any other in literature.
Given that young Atwood was a devoted comics reader, I wonder if she’s gone all the way over to that medium, as well…should Go Look.
Todd, I’m always amazed at Margaret Atwood’s versatility!