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The Carousel [Hardcover]

Liz Rosenberg (Author), Jim LaMarche (Illustrator)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)


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Book Description

4 and upK and up
“The carousel horses sleep all winter and wake in the spring,” two sisters remember their mother saying. Then one gray-skied February twilight, as they make their way home from school, the girls hear strange whinnying noises coming from the carousel. Could it be that the horses are moving . . . clopping their hooves . . . alive? “Rosenberg’s atmospheric tale is greatly enhanced by LaMarche’s singularly luminous artwork; mist all but lingers on the pages, and his superb use of light and shadow underscores the element of magic threading through the story.”--Publishers Weekly

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When two sisters take a shortcut through the park one rainy winter day at dusk, the horses on the canvas-shrouded carousel magically come to life and take them for a thrilling twilight ride, soaring up into the sky above town. Something goes awry, however?the horses go wild, and it's up to the girls, with the help of their mother's tool kit and the elder sister's flute serenade, to set things right. Throughout the poetic text, there are hints of the girls' mother's death?the use of the past tense when she's mentioned, and a lingering sadness?and by story's end readers sense that a hurdle has been crossed on their road to healing. Rosenberg's atmospheric tale is greatly enhanced by LaMarche's (The Rainbabies) singularly luminous artwork; mist all but lingers on the pages, and his superb use of light and shadow underscores the element of magic threading through the story. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3?On a rainy day in February, two sisters stop by a park after school and peek into the pavilion that houses a long-stilled carousel. To their delight and amazement, the horses are whinnying and prancing around. The narrator leaps on her favorite mare and they fly off into the twilight. Her sister climbs on a zebra and they gallop off together. In response to the observation that "they're wild because they are broken," the girls race home to get their deceased mother's old red toolbox. The younger one proceeds to take the carousel machinery apart until she fixes it, just like her mother would have done. Her sibling calms the horses by playing her flute and the steeds resume their places on the carousel. Wonderfully detailed paintings done in acrylic washes with colored pencils capture the action. The soft, dark gray-blues and lavenders of the pictures are accented by warm, glowing street lights and lighted houses. The sense of wonder and delight on the girls' faces make this fanciful adventure an appealing one. A pleasing story, which, like Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express (Houghton, 1985), can be enjoyed on many different levels.?Janet M. Bair, Trumbull Library, CT
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  • Hardcover: 32 pages
  • Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (October 31, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0152008535
  • ISBN-13: 978-0152008536
  • Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Liz Rosenberg is the author of 3 novels, 5 books of poems and more than 20 award winning books for children. She has edited five prize winning poetry anthologies (including THE INVISIBLE LADDER and LIGHT GATHERING POEMS) and her picture book, THE CAROUSEL was featured on PBS' Reading Rainbow. Her newest picture book, TYRANNOSAURUS DAD, illustrated by brilliant newcomer Matthew Myers, is a Children's Book of the Month Club bestseller, has garnered praise from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, School Library Journal and elsewhere, and was an Amazon top 10 children's book on dinosaurs, sports and family.

Her first novel for adults, HOME REPAIR was a Target Breakout book and voted top ten for Book Clubs and Most Likely to be Next Oprah Pick on Goodreads.

Liz Rosenberg was born and raised on Long Island. She met her husband, David, when they were 7 and 8 years old respectively, at summer camp. They became friends in high school, each married other people, and ten years after they had reconnected in high school, finally got married. They have been married 3 times to each other because they are both terrible at keeping track of paperwork. They have an actor son, Eli, and an 8 year old daughter, Lily.

Liz Rosenberg's first husband was the late great American novelist John Gardner, author of Grendel, Nickel Mountain, How to Become a Novelist and more than 25 other works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and scholarship. Together they taught at the State University of Binghamton till his untimely death in l982 in a motorcycle accident. She continues as a full professor at Binghamton University's English Department and has guest taught all over the world, from Russia to Austria to Singapore, and at colleges throughout the United States. Ms. Rosenberg spends her time reading and writing. Her hobbies are reading and writing and her passions are-- right, reading and writing.

 

Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW. What a beautiful haunting book and story., May 25, 2010
This review is from: The Carousel (Paperback)
This was and is probably one of the most haunting children's books I have read over the past ten years or so. This work is a perfect blend of mellow, almost poetic prose, almost ghost like illustrations which are brilliantly executed and stunning onto themselves, and a story that is bound to capture the heart of any child or adult with just a wee ounce of imagination in their soul.

Two young girls, sisters, enter a local park on a misty evening in the late winter as they walk home from school. The park is closed. They venture near the now abandoned carousel. It is gloomy and has started to mist. "The horses are asleep," the older sister whispers which brings a whimsical smile to the face on the younger girl as she remembers that her mother use to tell them "that the carousel horses slept all winter and woke in the spring." But alas, their carousal, in this park, was now broken!

So starts a wonderful imaginative adventure. The horses are restless. They fly thorough the air. They kick and gallop snorting through the park. What to do? Well of course you mount two of the wonderful animals and have them carry you to your home to retrieve your mother's old tool box..."she could fix anything." The carousel must be fixed...the horses and other animals must be happy.


The love, confidence, imagination and sweetness the mother has left these two young girls flows from every page. As stated before, the art work in this wonderful book, all in subdued colors...misty, stormy, dark, is something to behold. They capture the mood of the story perfectly.

Now I must admit that I have had an absolute fascination, bordering on passion, for carousels since I was a very little boy and now, as a very old man, never pass up an opportunity to watch and indeed ride one if I have a grandkid handy to act as a prop and to use as an excuse. I doubt seriously if the kids enjoy the ride as much as I do. For me, carousel horses are indeed magical! I suppose this is the reason this book first caught my eye. As with all books I review here though, this one has been kid tested several times and it is a complete hit with the young crowd. They like the story; they like the art and are, for the most part, completely mesmerized when the story is read to them.

There is one aspect of the book which must be noted. To the adult reader it is quite obvious that the mother is no longer with her daughters. The author does not come out and say this; it is more of what is not said than what is said that will clue the adult reader into this. This part of the story line, at times, must be explained to the children listening to it being read. I personally find this part of the unsaid story comforting in that despite her absence, the mother has left these young girls with the love, imagination and spirit that all parents should instill in their child. This is good stuff folks.

I can hardly see how you can go wrong with this one.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful theme, February 27, 2009
By 
Melissa M. Knight (centralia, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Carousel (Paperback)
I love this story, and the pictures, too, but what I like most is the sense of lingering influence of a Mother who taught her children with love, and the confidence her memory gives them to handle things on their own. This is skillfully done with only very subtle reference to the fact that the mother is not there, which would be very sad for the audience the book was intended for.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Galloping For Carousel, June 21, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Carousel (Hardcover)
The illustrations of this book are outstanding. It resembles those of Harry Potter. I was most impressed with the story's poetic rhythm. The author makes use of strong analogies that allow young readers to truly put themselves in the young girls places as they manipulate the carousel on a magical adventure. The story leaves readers wondering and interpreting the author's intention for the characters mother. Students in K-5 will enjoy writing other adventures that the carousel horses may encounter or other adventures that the girls may have with their mother's tools. Great book!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
The time my sister and I saw the horses it was gray-skied, twilight-but warm because there had been a February thaw that day. Read the first page
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