The Paper Bag Prince - Hardcover

Thompson, Colin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679830480 ISBN 13: 9780679830481

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1992

Synopsis

A wise old man who visits the town dump every day moves into an abandoned train there and watches as nature gradually reclaims the polluted land

About this title

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Wonderfully detailed illustrations highlight this environmental tale of an old man who spends his days in an obsolete train carriage in the town dump. He feeds the wildlife that has found refuge in the discarded junk, and he hoards the shells of old TVs and radios. One day the rubbish trucks stop coming, and a social worker informs the old man that he can now have back the land that he once owned. Rejuvenated, he has more train carriages moved in and makes a permanent home for himself and the animals of the junkyard. The intricacy and hidden delights of the illustrations are reminiscent of Base's Animalia (Abrams, 1987), and children will enjoy looking for the small animals and concealed bits of humor. Though not without flaws (the toxic waste mentioned in the story will not go away just because the trucks stop coming), the nondidactic text and the marvelous pictures make this a book that will stimulate children's thoughts and emotions. It effectively portrays the tenacity of nature as well as the resilience of the human spirit. --Lori A. Janick, Parkwood Elementary School, Pasadena, TX
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

His kingdom is the town dump; his palace, an abandoned railroad carriage at the edge of it. But the Paper Bag Prince (he earned his title by foraging in the litter for bags and other useful objects) is content with his lot, and with his subjects--the stray animals who also call the dump home. His cup runneth over one day when he's informed that the dump has been closed. Soon, he knows, nature will start "healing the gentle fields that the humans nearly killed with their rubbish." There's more happiness in store for him, too--he finally wins his "Princess," a shy dog he coaxes out from the shadows and into his home. Although lacking focus--and a compelling plot--and obviously concocted as a vehicle for a somewhat fuzzy message about caring for the environment, this tale's rambling nature is not without charm. And if the scattered storyline doesn't grab young readers' attentions, the illustrations will. Reminiscent at times of Graeme Base's work (though with a somewhat more bleak edge), Thompson's finely drawn, intricately bordered pages are as crammed with detail and small treasures as the dump itself. Ages 7-12.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A gaunt old man spends every day at the town dump, feeding the many creatures that live there, poking through junk for firewood, clothes, and paper bags, and trying to ignore the thundering trucks. His name long forgotten, he has been dubbed the ``Paper Bag Prince'' by a truck driver. Then the dump is closed; a woman comes to explain that rubbish will now be burned, and the land--taken over 40 years ago after the old man's farmhouse burned--is his once more. Pleased, he gets two railroad cars to add to the one already there and moves back his belongings. As winter comes on, nature also begins to repossess the ravaged ground. In Thompson's lovely, intricate art--meticulously penned details relieved by broader expanses of earth or sky, all cleverly bordered with amalgamations of bits of junk and homely articles, tiny animals and irrepressible plants, bleak evidence of reckless waste and comic pictorial commentary--signs of life and renewal creep in everywhere, even in a grim spread of the ``Poison Pool.'' More than just another ecological fantasy, this dump is a compelling symbol of the earth itself; it's to be hoped that, like the old man, humanity will be here to welcome nature back if the pollution ever abates. (Picture book. 7+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679830480
• ISBN 13: 9780679830481
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1