Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Girl's thoughts on The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo was the second and last book The Girl read for summer reading. (Frindle by Andrew Clements was the first.) I haven't read this one myself, but I can say that the illustrations are wonderful and the few passages I read while flipping through it sounded great.

Here's what The Girl (age 9) had to say:

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is about a china rabbit who was lost in the sea. He went on an adventure to get back to his owner. Edward Tulane met up with several different people on his journey, such as an old fisherman. I liked when a dog drooled on Edward Tulane.

This was my favorite part:

Once, while Abilene was at school, the neighbor's dog, a male brindled boxer inexplicably named Rosie, came into the house uninvited and unannounced and lifted his leg on the dining room table, spraying the white tablecloth with urine. He then trotted over and sniffed Edward, and before Edward even had time to consider the implications of being sniffed by a dog, he was in Rosie's mouth and Rosie was shaking him back and forth vigorously, growling and drooling.

...Edward's silk suit was stained with drool and his head ached for several days afterward, but it was his ego that had suffered the most damage. Abilene's mother had referred to him as "it," and she was more outraged at the dog urine on her tablecloth than she was about the indignities that Edward had suffered at the jaws of Rosie. (pages 15-16)
This story was funny in some parts, and that's why I think other people should read it.

Disclosure:  The Girl received The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane as a gift.

15 comments:

Serena said...

This sounds like a cute little story. Great review!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Lovely review! Thank you so much for the recommendation!

bermudaonion said...

Great review! The passage does make me think it would be a funny book. The cover is great too.

Julie P. said...

Wonderful! I'll have to check with My Girl to see if she's read this one!

Ana S. said...

I loved this book! I'm glad The Girl enjoyed it too :)

Unknown said...

That would be my favorite part too! Dogs are like that :)

Iliana said...

Love the review and the book sounds so sweet! What a pretty cover on the book too!

Alyce said...

Great review! Very vivid imagery!

Luanne said...

Loved the cover and loved the quote you chose to share!!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I LOVED this sweet book, as as a result will be looking forward to her mer book : Magician's Elephant!

Book Escape said...

I liked Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Desperaux.

After this review, I may have to check out this one, too.

Ladytink_534 said...

I wasn't crazy about Because of Winn-Dixie but I did enjoy it enough that I may try one of her other stories. I do like the illustrations in this one!

Mel u said...

I liked this book a lot and so did my 11 year old daughter-thanks for sharing this great review with us

Silvergirl said...

I would like to caution other parents: Read this book before recommending it or reading it to your child. It is NOT a cute, sweet little story. It's brutally sad until the last page. Edward and any kind people in the book are completely helpless. The bullies and cruel people have all the power. There are a few amusing sentences, but the world of the book is harsh--an alcoholic father slaps his son across the mouth, a very young girl dies of TB, Edward gets his head smashed etc.

Anna said...

Thank you all for taking the time to read The Girl's review. We both appreciate it!

~Silvergirl: Thank you for weighing in. I think it all depends on the maturity level of your child. My daughter has read books on some heavy topics (she's as fascinated by WWII history as I am), and she doesn't seem to have been disturbed by the book at all. But I know that she's able to handle such stories and learn from them. I don't think every children's book needs to be about sunshine and flowers, at least not at my daughter's age. Thanks again for contributing to the discussion.