Freddy and the Popinjay [Hardcover]

Walter R. Brooks (Author), Kurt Wiese (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

After Freddy, a perceptive and poetic pig, helps a nearsighted Robin get glasses and aids in planning an important wedding, he and the other Bean farm animals try to change a slingshot-wielding boy into a friend.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Freddy the Pig:

"Freddy's readers have called him a porcine prince... Walter R. Brook's gentle genius shines even brighter."--Nicholas Kristoff, The New York Times

"At my funeral, in lieu of flowers, I'd prefer that people give money to the Friends of Freddy fan club."--Deirdre Donahue, USA Today

"Freddy is blessed with courage, wit, agility and a Sherlock Holmes-like capacity for detective work."--Newsday

"Freddy's fame is growing--just not on his home turf. With that in mind, we suggest you find one of the books. After a few pages, guaranteed, you'll be proud he's our pig."-- Syracuse Post Standard

"The American version of the great English classics such as the Pooh books or The Wind in the Willows."--The New York Times Book Review

"[Walter Brooks'] prose was simple but elegant, without being dumbed down, and that the characters weren't plaster saints. Freddy was a bit lazy, a little vain, and not much of a house--uh, penkeeper. But the spirit of the stories was like the spirit of the Bean Farm's animals--kind, amiable, and clever."-- The American Culture Blog --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Walter R. Brooks (1886-1958) is the beloved author of 26 books about Freddy the Pig. Born in upstate New York, he attended the University of Rochester before going to work with the American Red Cross and editing for magazines, including The New Yorker. In addition to the Freddy books, Brooks created the character Mister Ed the talking horse. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Juvenile (April 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585671347
• ISBN-13: 978-1585671342
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,429,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Popinjay Goeth Before the Fall, July 5, 2001

By 

James K. Burk (Wichita, Kansas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Freddy and the Popinjay (Hardcover)

This book was written just as Walter R. Brooks was hitting his stride as a writer, and is one of the better Freddy books. A robin friend of Freddy's needs glasses, and from there the story gets wilder. The book is great fun and, as in all the Freddy books, has some lessons to impart to the reader, one of them being that conceit is not only a vice, but a rather silly one. This lesson is taught, as always, without a preachy tone intruding on the story.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Near the top of my Favorite Freddies list, October 10, 2001

By 

John Chastain (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Freddy and the Popinjay (Hardcover)

I don't recall reading Popinjay when I first discovered Freddy back in 1960 (or thereabouts), but I've just read the new Overlook Press 2001 reprint. This story features the familiar, lovable Freddy characters--and a few new ones--portraying a message that we all need to remember these days: Don't judge people by appearances.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Freddy the Moralist, May 27, 2002

By 

Sand Flea Press (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freddy and the Popinjay (Hardcover)

In 1944, Freddy went up against that violent young lout, Horace Winch, and taught him to be a weekend painter (in "Freddy and Mr. Camphor"). But that wasn't enough! In "Freddy and the Popinjay," published the next year, he's out to reform the rock-slinging thug, Jimmy Witherspoon, and his tight-fisted father. The title of this one could have been changed to "Freddy the Moralist."

If you get past the unusually overt uplift, "Freddy and the Popinjay" contains much pleasant humor at the Bean Farm and environs, as well as a family of dangerous wildcats (who may also be misunderstood).

Interestingly to students of the Bean mysteries, the animals spend some time in this one waxing nostalgic over the days when those fine lads Biram and Adoniram were with them, while giving no clue as to where they have gone.

When Ella and Everett disappeared from the series, they left not a wrack behind. Adoniram, however, left his bathing trunks.