After Hamelin [Hardcover]

Bill Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2000 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Implicit in many folk and fairy tales is the question, 'Then what?'

After Hamelin picks up the story where the Robert Browning poem -- or other tellings of The Pied Piper of Hamelin -- leaves off. In a quest that is both contemporary and timeless, Richardson creates a magical world through inventive wordplay, uninhibited imagination and a facility with rhyme. Here is a raconteur who spins a narrative tale that takes readers into strange lands inhabited by unusual characters, both good and evil, where adventure abounds and unlikely saviors emerge.

Penelope is 101 years old, but she can remember the story like it happened yesterday. On the morning of her eleventh birthday, she wakes to discover she can no longer hear. It is on this same day that the Piper returns to Hamelin to spirit the children away in an evil act of revenge upon the townspeople. Spared because she is deaf to the Piper's bewitching tune, Penelope is left to grieve the loss of her friends and beloved sister Sophy until Cuthbert, the wise man of the village, reveals that Penelope possesses the unusual gift of deep dreaming. Armed only with a charm from Cuthbert and her own courage, Penelope enters the land of sleep on a treacherous quest to rescue the stolen children.

There is suspense, humor and high excitement (wrapped in dark undercurrents) as Penelope and the companions she meets along the way -- Scally, her trusted cat; Alloway, the blind harpist; Ulysses, a three-legged dog; and Quentin, a dragon who loves skipping -- journey to the Piper's mountain fortress. Their combined wits and talents see them through strange landscapes and close calls. In a thrilling climax played out in a mysterious place between dreaming and waking, they triumph over the Piper and set the children of Hamelin free.

(20010608)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Featuring a wild and unpredictable dreamscape, this surrealistic tale begins 90 years after the Pied Piper of Hamelin's tale ends. Penelope, at age 101, is the only villager old enough to remember the events, and she records her account of what really happened to her town's children. She begins with her 11th birthday, marked by three significant occurrences. First she is mysteriously struck deaf. Then she watches helplessly as the piper lures her older sister and friends out of the city with an enchanting melody (her deafness spares her from the same fate). Next a mysterious town elder informs Penelope that she alone can rescue the children by journeying to a magic land that can be entered only through dreams. After falling into a deep sleep, Penelope embarks on her dangerous mission and, with the aid of a talking cat, a featherless snowbird and a rope-skipping dragon, she sets out to find the piper and his imprisoned victims. First-time YA novelist Richardson provides an effective framework for his narrative, juxtaposing the poetic musings of 101-year-old Penelope against the childhood adventure she meticulously recalls. Penelope emerges as a far more convincing character than her traveling companions, whose bizarre traits and talents seem too neatly tailored to advance the plot. If the events are somewhat convoluted and unevenly paced, Penelope's wise, sometimes bitter voice remains fresh and provocative. Ages 10-13. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-When Penelope wakes up on her 11th birthday in the town of Hamelin, she can no longer hear. On the same day, the Pied Piper returns to seek revenge for not having been paid for ridding the town of rats. He plays his pipe to entrap the children and leads them into the world of dreams. Unable to hear, Penelope is spared. When Cuthbert, a wise hermit, visits her, he tells her of her special gift, Deep Dreaming, and explains that she is the only one who can rescue the others. With many misgivings, Penelope sets off on her journey and with the help of various companions, saves the youngsters and renews the spell that will keep the Piper asleep and harmless. This imaginative story is narrated by Penelope, now 101 years old, and it moves back and forth from past to present and from the real world to the world of dreaming. Full of wonderful characters such as Quentin, a dragon that skips rope, the tale bounces along quickly. Unfortunately, it too often moves in a direction of convenience and coincidence without the internal logic necessary to all good fantasy. Why, for example, do doors conveniently appear with no rhyme or reason? What caused Penelope to wake up deaf in the first place? This lively continuation of the story of the Pied Piper is certainly interesting, but not totally convincing.
Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Annick Press (September 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550376292
• ISBN-13: 978-1550376296
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,304,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A highly imaginative book for children and adults alike..., May 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: After Hamelin (Paperback)

Did you ever wonder what happened to the children lead away from Hamelin by the Pied Pier's magic flute? Well, Bill Richardson did, and we should be thankful. After Hamelin, his solution to the Piper mystery, stars a girl named Penelope, one of only two children who escape the Piper's enchantment. Interestingly, the two are each protected by their disabilities: Penelope by her mysterious deafness, which strikes the night before the Piper's fateful return, and the other child by blindness which leaves him lost in the forest after the Piper's music finally fades away. Penelope's task is to follow the dastardly Piper into the fantasy realm of Deep Dreaming. Her companions along the way include her talking cat, a rope-jumping dragon named Quenten and a ski-footed, singing Trolavian bird-creature named Belle. Will Penelope and her friends overcome the magic powers of the Piper and free the children of Hamelin? Of course they will, but there are many adventures, twists, turns and surprises along the way. My nine year-old son said, "Great!" and my six year-old daughter said, "Fantastic!" and I, forever anxious about nourishing their young minds, was grateful to a writer who applies the English language with unique style and wit. An added bonus: Penelope is a champion rope skipper and there are countless skipping rhymes scattered throughout the book. Children who hear or read this story will be reaching for their skipping ropes with new enthusiasm. I want to make two cautionary notes about this story: First, the very endearing character, Belle, dies a heroic death that may disturb sensitive children (I had to edit that part for my six year old). Secondly, the story makes frequent leaps between Penelope, 101 years of age and Penelope, 11 years of age, which will confuse younger listeners who are not accustomed to following convoluted storylines and subplots. Other than that, After Hamelin is a terrific book to pass along to a friend, be they adult or child.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well, the Pied Piper got what was coming to him..., March 12, 2003

By 

K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: After Hamelin (Hardcover)

As a child who read every book on myths, fairy tales, fantasy stories, etc. that I could get my hands on, I always wondered about the story of the Pied Piper. I remember the one old movie where it shows the mountains parting, and the Piper taking the children into the mountain. Inside there was some type of wonderful land for the children that catered to their every whim (from what we could see). As the mountain closed, a young boy who was crippled and hobbled on a stick, came hurrying up, just missing a chance to go into this 'land'. I always felt sorry for that young man because I identified with him. Part of the reason I read fairy tales was to get away from my real world, the world in which I am deaf and was required to go to public schools in California in the 1960's and 70's, where no one wanted me: not the administrations, not the teachers and certainly not the kids. My home was my safe place, and my books were my television since I could not hear the cartoons or shows and they were not captioned at that time.

I also felt extremely sorry for the parents, losing all their children that way, because of the dishonesty of the politicians (as per usual). How great of Richardson to finish the story off for us, and this is one of those books you are thinking "I wish I had thought of that!"

This book is an incredible read. Well written, thoughtful, it's almost too good for small children, but I could see reading this book to them after reading about the Pied Piper. As a parent reads, they could explain thing and answer questions. But really this book is for old kids, the 'tween' group who are not quite ready for the teenagers currently available kind-of-... reading out there. It's also a great fantasy book. It totally turned on its head my previous conceptions of dragons...like the assumptions we make about other people and other cultures, Richardson's dragon skips rope and faints at the slightest thing.

The protagonist, Penelope, I could readily identify with. At eleven she loses her hearing, and she and her parents are devastated. But like the wise old man of Hamelin (there is always a wise old man or woman in these stories) said, nothing ever happens except for a reason. We may not always agree with the need for the bad things to happen, we may not always understand why they happen, but often the reason for our problems becomes clearer as we live life and experience it. This is an excellent book to illustrate that concept to children, teenagers, and adults. I never understood 'why' I had to be deaf, 'why' I went to a regular school instead of a residential school, 'why' I had to deal with prejudices and barriers...and now, I am a disability rights advocate and I work to protect those with disabilities in education and health through my bioethics/disability groups. So see...the stories often come true, or have a realistic bent to their parables...

And best of all, that nasty Pied Piper got what was coming to him!

Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring heroine, March 12, 2002

By 

Kelly (Fantasy Literature) (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: After Hamelin (Paperback)

The editorial review and the other customer review below have both summed up the plot pretty well, so I won't bother with that; I'll just write a bit about why I liked _After Hamelin_.

Penelope is a delightful heroine, who journeys into a dangerous dreamworld to save her friends from the evil Piper; she could have wallowed in self-pity over her deafness and the disappearance of her friends, but instead she makes a heroine of herself. She recounts this story at age 101; she has become a lonely and bitter woman, teased by the local kids for her disability, her facial scar, and her solitary ways. But as she writes down the story of her adventure, she begins to sound feisty again, as if she's only just remembering that she did some great things and that she can still do a great good in the world. For the spell that binds the Piper will break when she dies. We find out that she is writing this down to accompany a special gift for a special young girl, passing along her knowledge both to enrich the girl's life and to ensure that someone will know what to do if the trouble arises again.

Penelope is a wonderful and three-dimensional character, and her story is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes scary, and always interesting. For almost any age.