The Anything Box [Paperback]

Zenna Henderson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (December 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380017458
• ISBN-13: 978-0380017454
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Read, January 21, 2004

By 

James A. Landrith Jr. "Free Will Agitator" (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Anything Box (Paperback)

Strangely enough, I was first introduced to Henderson's writings in 1990, through a group of electronica musicians who named their band after her short story The Anything Box. After reading an interview with the band, and learning of Henderson`s influence, I read her excellent collection of short stories titled Anything Box.

In her short story The Anything Box, I appreciated Henderson's sympathetic characterization of the teacher. Henderson, a teacher herself, ably presented the character in a positive manner, without distracting us from the center of the story, Sue-lynn and her Anything Box. Through the teacher's observations, I grew sympathetic for Sue-lynn as a fragile, young mind. At the same time, I was thankful the young girl had such a caring teacher looking out for her well-being. As a side note, I'd like to think that Henderson was such a teacher, given her characterization of the teacher and her obvious empathy for her young charge.

The rest of the stories in this book are just as well-written and engrossing. This is positively one of the best books I've ever read.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvels where you least expect them., July 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Anything Box (Paperback)

Like Tolkien's 'Smith of Wootton Major', the quiet, honest, caring folk who inhabit the foreground of Zenna Henderson's stories live simply and try to accept life as they find it. These traits help them keep their balance and act compassionately when they find out that they have vulnerable neighbors who must live with care on the boundary between vastly different worlds. This is perhaps best illuminated in the personal struggle of the primary-grades teacher who encounters 'The Anything Box' in one such child's hands, right there in her otherwise-ordinary classroom. Set in the arid Southwest of the late 1940s, these stories are both timeless and contemporary, both exotic and immediately familiar to anyone who has been a first-grader in 20th-century America. The plight of the "different ones" among us has been told many times and in many ways, but seldom with such tenderness and understanding.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Classic!, November 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Anything Box (Paperback)

One of those books that will stay with you forever! A collection of magical short stories that weaves fantasy together with the sense of wonder we all felt as children. Fascinating and compelling. It's currently out of print, but is absolutely worth seeking out.