A Far-Fetched Story [Hardcover]

Karin Cates (Author), Nancy Carpenter (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002 | Age Level: 5 and up

Grandmother wanted firewood. But one by one, the family members who went to the woods to gather sticks came back with unlikely tales. A wolf tried to eat the boy's shirt. Deer nibbled his sister's dress. Swans attacked their mother. And the baby? Even the baby had an adventure. in the end, no wood was gathered, but the family had a fine collection of far-fetched stories. And thanks to Grandma's ingenuity, these stories kept them warm and cozy during the long, hard winter.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

oor Grandmother keeps dispatching family members into the woods to gather enough firewood before the "long, hard winter" arrives, but instead of collecting wood, each person comes back with his or her clothes in tatters and a tale of a tussle with wild animals. Newcomer Cates follows a successful folktale formula to a T with a no-nonsense grandma and her catchy refrain. To each relative's cockamamy excuse the woman replies, "Well, that's a far-fetched story!. It's a pity but it can't be helped, and I'm afraid we'll have to burn your [garment] for firewood." Carpenter's (Fannie in the Kitchen) sprightly vintage-style watercolor-and-ink drawings conjure a faraway and long-ago setting where children freely roam the woods alone and toddlers can play safely in the yard unattended. Grandmother's facial expressions belie her patient responses. In an ingenious touch, Carpenter presents each family member's rendition of his or her animal encounter as a color transfer on white linen, embellished with machine stitching; it's a nice link to the story's conclusion, which features Grandmother working magic with a needle to keep her family warm through the winter. Ages 5-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-In this folktale-like story, Grandmother wants just one more armful of firewood for the winter woodpile, but the boy, girl, mother, father, and baby all come back empty-handed and with their clothing in tatters. As the five sit shivering on the bed, the old woman has a great idea. Burn the ragged clothes for heat? No, make a quilt that "kept the whole family as warm as toast and as safe as fairy tales all through the long, hard winter-." Never mind the logic of what they'll wear when they finally get out of bed-this story has just the right amount of humor to convince readers that these five sillies are in good hands with Grandmother. While most of the illustrations are done in ink line and watercolor, the family members' "far-fetched" accounts of how their clothes have been ruined have been photocopied to transfer paper and ironed onto frayed white linen, thus setting these "stories" off from the main narrative. Carpenter adds detail with machine embroidery to form a unique illustrative technique. The resulting subdued colors lend old-time heft to the pictures and expressive black lines give the skeptical Grandmother, the endearing girl offering an apple to the deer offstage, the nonplussed baby surrounded by rabbits, and others a humorous look. Whether displayed with other quilt books or with foolish folktale people, this title will circulate, and families who read it together may expect some "far-fetched" explanations in the future.

Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688159389
• ISBN-13: 978-0688159382
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,136,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karin Cates is a retired elementary school teacher in Austin, Texas. She grew up in Dallas, but moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. She has published two children books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern-day fairy tale, December 9, 2003

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Far-Fetched Story (Hardcover)

In this book, grandma goes out to her woodpile one fall and decides that she will need some more wood to make it through the winter. She asks her grandson to go into the forest to get some more wood, but he gets distracted along the way, and comes back empty handed with his shirt in tatters. Rather than berate him about not bringing back any wood, grandma simply takes his shirt away and throws it in the woodbox instead. She sends each of the other family members to the forest in turn, with similar results. By the beginning of winter, she gets no additional firewood, and her family are cold, since their clothes are in her woodbox. Then grandma gets the brilliant idea of making a quilt with the tattered clothes, that will keep everyone warm much longer than the wood might have. The story is quite engaging and full of thought, and the pictures tell stories in themselves. All told, the book has about 1000 words.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun book with very original and creative illustrations, February 2, 2003

By 

Dana Wooten (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Far-Fetched Story (Hardcover)

This is a really good book with great illustrations and a funny storyline that you won't mind having to read over and over again to your kids. It is a story that lends itself to animated storytelling, if you are like me and like to liven up bedtime stories with lots of inflection and a different voice for each character in the book. Your kids will love the funny far-fetched stories and the interesting illustrations that incorporate fabric from articles of clothing in the story into the illustrations. The illustrations will be especially interesting to those moms who enjoy quilting and needlework when they are not running around after kids or reading them 5 or 6 bedtime stories. Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun to read aloud, November 11, 2006

By 

A. Prentice (Hudson Valley, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Far-Fetched Story (Library Binding)

I found this book to go with a quilting art project we wanted to carry out at our preschool. The children loved hearing this read aloud. The language is rhythmic with opportunities for different voices. The story has some ambiguous qualities that lead to interesting discussions. And, it conveys perfectly to three and four year olds how quilts come to be and how comforting they are. The book is also visually very interesting. A big hit.