The Cuckoo Clock - Hardcover

Stolz, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0879236531 ISBN 13: 9780879236533

Publisher: David R Godine Pub, 1986

Synopsis

Lonely, unloved, and working as a drudge for the "charitable" Fran Goddhart, Erich, a young foundling, finds new meaning in his life when he goes to work for Ula, the town clockmaker, who creates a wondrous, magical cuckoo clock; by the creators of "Quentin Corn."

About this title

About the Author:

Pamela Johnson was born in Philadelphia and now lives in Maine, where she raises sheep. Her other books for Godine include Quentin Corn and The Cuckoo Clock, both by Mary Stolz.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-6 Stolz tells a simple story in her own wry, distanced style, adding elements of fantasy to create a sort of fable. Set in the Black Forest of over a century ago, this is about Ula, an old and wise clockmaker, and Erich, a foundling who works with him as an apprentice at the reluctant consent of Frau Goddhart, his guardian whose kindness is more public than sincere. When Ula decides to make his last and finest clock, Erich works with him. When the clock is completed a miracle occurs: the carved bird inside comes alive, flying about the room and singing the 36 songs of the Black Forest birds. Shortly thereafter, Ula dies. Erich goes away, with a prediction from the Baron's daughter that he will become a great artist. The brief epilogue does not specifically confirm this, but tells of the clock existing today with the cuckoo singing its 36 songs with no one to hear them. Stolz' delicate ironies and precise writing style save her story from sentimentality, enabling it to teach an interesting and rigorous lesson about the liability of the self-involved to understand the true beauty of the world. Original, wise, and thoughtful. Christine Behrmann, New York Public Lib .
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: David R Godine Pub
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0879236531
• ISBN 13: 9780879236533
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 84
• Illustrator: Johnson Pamela