Dr. Dredd's Wagon of Wonders

Brittain, Bill

ISBN 10: 0060207140 ISBN 13: 9780060207144

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1987

Synopsis

Folks said it seemed like a curse had fallen on Coven Tree. Wells were running dry, livestock suffered, great cracks crisscrossed farmers' fields, no crops could be planted. Rain had become more valuable than gold. Then a miracle happened: Dr. Dredd and his Wagon of Wonders came to town, and among his "wonders" was a young boy called Bufu the Rainmaker. At first the townspeople were skeptical -- moments later they were dancing for joy, faces turned up into a driving rain. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the rain stopped. "More rain!" somebody yelled. Dr. Dredd's toothy smile grew wide. Yes, he could command Bufu to make more rain -- but what it would cost Coven Tree, he wouldn't say. Not yet. Those who thought rain would be worth whatever it cost didn't know what Bufu knew. And when fourteen-year-old Ellen McCabe found Bufu cowering in her family's woodshed later that night, seeking sanctuary from his evil master, all of Coven Tree soon would know the terrible wrath -- and frightening powers -- of Dr. Hugo Dredd.

About this title

About the Author:

Bill Brittain's tales of the rural New England village of Coven Tree are well loved by children of all ages. The Wish Giver was a Newbery Honor Book; it and Devil's Donkey were both named ALA Notabled Children's Books as well as School Library Journal Best Books. Dr. Dredd's Wagon of Wonders was a 1988 Children's Editors' Choice (ALA Booklist), and Professor Popkin's Prodigious Polish was named a "Pick of the Lists" by American Bookseller.

Mr. Brittain has written many other delightful books, which have also received high acclaim. Among these are All the Money in the World, which won the 1982-1983 Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award and which has been adapted for an ABC-TV Saturday Special; and The Fantastic Freshman, which was named an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

Bill Brittain lives with his wife, Ginny, in Asheville, North Carolina.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-7 Another chronicle of remarkable doings at Coven Tree, a village somewhere in New England, andalthough some might not think it possiblea better-crafted, more fascinating account than Brittain's previous novels The Wish Giver (1983) and Devil's Donkey (1981, both Harper). Directly commissioned by Satan, Dr. Dredd arrives to sow seeds of greed in the townfolk of Coven Tree. Dredd's agent is a captive boy who can make rain, a commodity long scarce in Coven Tree. As told by storekeeper ``Stew Meat,'' the people rally and overcome Dredd and his supernatural allies, Antaeus (last defeated by Hercules); the Black Knight; and a new-hatched, fire-breathing dragon. Witchy and wonderful, scenes and characters are extremely visual representations of people and their well-paced action. How the mega-evil Dr. Dredd comes on strong in Coven Tree and is finally, and satisfactorily, reduced to ``a tiny pile of white dust,'' is so engrossing that when readers finish this tale, they will want to flip back to the beginning and read it again. George Gleason, Department of English, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0060207140
• ISBN 13: 9780060207144
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 192
• Illustrator: Glass Andrew