A Far-Fetched Story - Hardcover

Cates, Karin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688159389 ISBN 13: 9780688159382

Publisher: Greenwillow, 2002

Synopsis

Despite having plenty of wood for the winter ahead, a worried grandmother sends the family out to gather even more, and when all five return with nothing but interesting tales, grandmother knows she has to get to the bottom of things in order to find out what they have been really doing with their day. Jr Lib Guild.

About this title

About the Author

Karin Cates has been writing stories since she was nine years old. She also likes to sew handmade fabric greeting cards for her family and friends. in fact, the idea for A Far-Fetched Story came to her while she was sewing.

The author earned a Masters degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin and worked as an elementary school teacher for twelve years. She is now retired and lives in Austin with her husband, Lloyd, and their two cats, Boo and Missy.

Reviews

K-Gr 2-In this folktale-like story, Grandmother wants just one more armful of firewood for the winter woodpile, but the boy, girl, mother, father, and baby all come back empty-handed and with their clothing in tatters. As the five sit shivering on the bed, the old woman has a great idea. Burn the ragged clothes for heat? No, make a quilt that "kept the whole family as warm as toast and as safe as fairy tales all through the long, hard winter-." Never mind the logic of what they'll wear when they finally get out of bed-this story has just the right amount of humor to convince readers that these five sillies are in good hands with Grandmother. While most of the illustrations are done in ink line and watercolor, the family members' "far-fetched" accounts of how their clothes have been ruined have been photocopied to transfer paper and ironed onto frayed white linen, thus setting these "stories" off from the main narrative. Carpenter adds detail with machine embroidery to form a unique illustrative technique. The resulting subdued colors lend old-time heft to the pictures and expressive black lines give the skeptical Grandmother, the endearing girl offering an apple to the deer offstage, the nonplussed baby surrounded by rabbits, and others a humorous look. Whether displayed with other quilt books or with foolish folktale people, this title will circulate, and families who read it together may expect some "far-fetched" explanations in the future.

Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

oor Grandmother keeps dispatching family members into the woods to gather enough firewood before the "long, hard winter" arrives, but instead of collecting wood, each person comes back with his or her clothes in tatters and a tale of a tussle with wild animals. Newcomer Cates follows a successful folktale formula to a T with a no-nonsense grandma and her catchy refrain. To each relative's cockamamy excuse the woman replies, "Well, that's a far-fetched story!. It's a pity but it can't be helped, and I'm afraid we'll have to burn your [garment] for firewood." Carpenter's (Fannie in the Kitchen) sprightly vintage-style watercolor-and-ink drawings conjure a faraway and long-ago setting where children freely roam the woods alone and toddlers can play safely in the yard unattended. Grandmother's facial expressions belie her patient responses. In an ingenious touch, Carpenter presents each family member's rendition of his or her animal encounter as a color transfer on white linen, embellished with machine stitching; it's a nice link to the story's conclusion, which features Grandmother working magic with a needle to keep her family warm through the winter. Ages 5-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-7. Grandmother knows it's going to be a cold winter (the spiders are already in the kitchen), so she sends each family member out to collect wood. This simple chore becomes quite dangerous: a wolf tears the boy's clothes; a deer nibbles on the girl's dress; swans snap at Mother, and a bear almost gobbles Father. Even Baby is left with nothing but her sash after playing with rabbits. Grandmother deems her family's stories far-fetched and takes the shredded clothes away. With no firewood, she has to improvise. She decides to burn the rags but has another idea: she makes a quilt that is big enough to spread over the whole family as it sleeps. This has some strong moments, especially when Baby frolics with the rabbits, but it's really the art that elevates this above many original folktales. The illustrations are done in pen, ink, and watercolor, and the picture of each family member's "far-fetched tale" is given special treatment: it has been copied onto transfer paper, ironed onto white linen, decorated with colored thread, and surrounded by a border. This frames the tales in a unique way that adds dimension, literal and figurative, to the rousing stories. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwillow
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688159389
• ISBN 13: 9780688159382
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Carpenter Nancy
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32