Customer Reviews

The Gammage Cup: A Novel of the Minnipins

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Carol Kendall once said, "Children are a marvelous audience . . . they remember what they have read! Sometimes they remember it all their lives!" Adults who read The Gammage Cup as children will probably agree. The book is memorable because it's about self-discovery as well as external adventure and because the five outcasts from the conformist society of Slipper-on-the-Water are all appealing in different ways: Walter the Earl (the scholar), Curley Green (the artist), Gummy (the poet), Mingy (the curmudgeon), and Muggles, the average Minnipin who finds the rebel within. When they turn out to be the only defenders of the Land between the Mountains from an impending invasion of cannibalistic Mushrooms, they prove themselves to be spiritual descendants of Fooley the Magnificent, the Minnipin who hundreds of years earlier ventured in a balloon out of the valley into the Land Beyond the Mountains. Among the souvenirs Fooley brought back with him from the outside world -- our world -- was an odd list of abbreviations, including Ltd., Co., Bros., Geo., that his literal descendants, who call themselves the Periods, took as their own names, making up pronunciations for these exotic words -- Litted, Coe, Bross, Gee-oh. The conceit will please young readers who themselves may be at the age where such abbreviations in the grown-up world puzzle and amuse them. It is also revealing to discover that Fooley was himself originally an outcast like the five adventurers, mythologized into an acceptable kind of hero by his dull descendants. The world that Kendall creates in this book is a kind of pre-industrial village society -- beautifully depicted in Erik Blegvad's drawings, which include a map of the valley and a bird's-eye view of Slipper-on-the-Water with houses and other buildings labeled. If there is such a thing as a cozy adventure, this is it. After all, the five outcasts don't even venture far from home, only into the mountains that surround their isolated valley, though even that is unknown territory to most Minnipins and fraught with real danger. The story is sure to appeal to imaginative children in the target age range of 9-12 not only because of its sympathetic characters but because its unobtrusive lesson about individuality is just what preteens are beginning to struggle with in their own lives. And it's so well written that adults will enjoy it, too.

A rising tide lifts all boats, they say. The rising tide caused by the phenomenal success of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books has indeed lifted the boats of many writers of children's fantasy. One of the oddest cases is perhaps Carol Kendall, and her book The Gammage Cup. This is hardly an unsuccessful book: it was first published in 1959, and it was a Newbery Honor Book. It was reprinted at least as recently as 1990. But besides the fact that The Gammage Cup is a succesful children's fantasy, it has another, insignificant but curious, link with Rowling's work: the use of the word "Muggles". To be sure, Muggles in The Gammage Cup is a character name, but nonetheless, Kendall's book is certainly proof enough that the word has a long history in children's fantasy.

Harcourt is reissuing this novel again in 2000. I will confess that I had not previously heard of it, despite having read a great many children's fantasies, and for that matter a great many Newbery Award and Newbery Honor books. But I'm glad to have seen it now. It's a decent book, very readable, displaying a nice touch for the cute turn of phrase, and with several clever notions. That said, it's a fairly minor book: pleasant enough but no patch on Alan Garner, or Lloyd Alexander, or Susan Cooper, or even J. K. Rowling. It's also very tempting to try to think of the book in allegorical terms, not necessarily to its benefit.

The story is set in a small village in an idyllic valley. Centuries before, the Minnipins fled their drought-ridden land, as well as the evil "Mushrooms", and found their way to this valley. Now their past is all but forgotten. The townspeople of Slipper-on-the-Water live comfortable, complacent, and mostly conformist lives. They remember the centuries-past exploits of the great Fooley, who took a balloon over the mountains to their old land, and returned with some relics. Fooley's descendants, the Periods (called so for a cute reason I'll not reveal), are the leaders of the town. Everybody wears green cloaks, and paints their doors green, except for a few outcasts, called "them".

The main character is Muggles, a woman who runs the local museum (mostly housing artifacts Fooley brought with him from over the mountains). She is dangerously close to being one of "them", because though she wears a green cloak she sometimes belts it with an orange sash. As the story proper opens she notices something strange happening in the nearby mountains, and two of "them", the idler and poet Gummy, and the historian Walter the Earl, seem to be involved. Muggles is drawn closer and closer to "them" as the rest of the town, led by the Periods, whips itself into paroxysms of ultraconformity, in an attempt to win the "Gammage Cup". Finally Muggles and her friends are outlawed, even as they become convinced that the whole valley could be in great danger from over (or through) the mountains.

Naturally the outlaws save the day in the end, leading the fight against the menace from the desolate lands outside the valley. The story is throughout pleasantly and cleverly told, and the characters, particularly Muggles and her friends, are well-depicted. It is very tempting to try to think of the book in allegorical terms, not necessarily to its benefit. Read in this way, the book is clearly a warning against 1950s conformist tendencies. It's also a warning against the threat from "outside the valley", and this is one way the book falls down. This threat is seen as completely unhuman, and worthy simply of killing. In the context of the book this is no doubt the only option, but it made me feel a bit queasy.

The Gammage Cup is certainly a very enjoyable book to read. The witty word play is perhaps the most enjoyable aspect. But it falls some way short of excellence. I'm glad to have it still in print, but it stands at best in the second rank of the great children's fantasies.

We read this book as part of the creative writing class that I teach, and I was quite surprised at how this book played out with my young students (aged 8-12). I wanted to introduce them to a fantasy novel that many of them had never heard of and was amused to show them that Rowling hadn't actually invented the word "Muggles" (it's the name of the main character in "The Gammage Cup"). What I did find surprising is that many of my students found this book a difficult read and were confused about many different aspects of the story. As an adult, I quite enjoyed the humor in this book. In particular, I loved the mistaken identification of what is a "painting" versus what is a "family tree; but case in point--for many of my students just didn't get this joke and I find once a young reader loses interest in a book, they just give up on it. I think part of the problem is that the characters in this book do not paint strong visuals in the minds of modern readers. I find many of my students live in a highly-visualized world; perhaps this is a case of their imaginations not being so active or strong as the children in author Carol Kendall's day (or for that matter, mine), but nonetheless, perhaps this book would benefit from stronger illustrations that helped represent the otherwise well-conceived characters. I expected this to be a hit with my kids--I was wrong, but I still like this book and recommend it for those readers with strong vocabularies and big appetites for fantasy novels.

I remember reading this book in elementary school. I read it so many times that it lingered in the back of my mind all through high school and into adulthood.
When my girls were what I thought old enough for me to read the book to them, I went out and found the book and bought it.
As I was surfing through the vast array of books, here it was again, the Muggles, with all their differences, colored front doors and curiousity for things not on the straight and narrow, words that didn't follow the rules set out by the high ranking Periods. The book always pulled at me, causing me to see that each of us are different and we need to celebrate these differences, because after all, that is what makes our world so unique.
Purchase the book, check it out from your local library, if they don't carry the book, make them purchase it. Read it yourself and float back to those lazy adolesence days, read it to your children and bask in their joy of a new adventure and remember when you too were in awe of the simple joy of a well written story.

When I first read "The Gammage Cup," I fell in love with the five misfits of Slipper-On-the-Water: I knew exactly how they felt. Through elementary school and middle school, I was always the odd one out, my peculiarities carefully noted by the mainstream group and mercilessly persecuted. The message was quite clear: if you do not comform, you are not welcome. For that reason, it was with particular joy that I watched Muggles, Mingy, Gummy, Curley Green, and Walter the Earl refuse to conform to the stultifying sameness of their village, and in fact use their outsider status to save the Minnipins. Foremost in "The Gammage Cup" is the message that difference is to be valued, not squelched, and that those who dare to be individual are the true heroes; philosophy aside, "The Gammage Cup" is a wild and wonderful read, full of humor, adventure, danger, some peculiar poetry, several proverbs, and even a bit of romance. The characters, even those you can't stand, are vividly drawn; the five main characters are colorful, eccentric, and thoroughly likable. The isolated world of the Land Between the Mountains is a great place to visit time and time again--though you might not want to live there. Give it a try if you haven't yet. "Hail, hail, to our outlaws bold..."

This 1959 publication just misses being a classic primarily because while it is written for a child's reading level, the jokes are best appreciated by adults. So there are six-year olds who struggle with the content and sixty-year olds who "get it" but find the style simplistic.

This makes this a great book for the middle-aged and a wonderful book for kids to read to their grandparents.

I love this book because of its ditzy heroine Muggles (Rowlings eat your heart out). Muggles keeps everything in her house in perfectly organized piles on the floor, makes daring candy and sometimes forgets to dust the Museum. She's a bit timid, but she's almost alone in questioning why her community wants to ban its creative artists (Gummy the Poet and Curley Green the artist) and discourage its historian (Walter the Earl) from publishing the fruits of his researches. Their little band of rebels is joined by Mingy, the village treasurer, who warns that the spending the town council is doing in order to win the Gammage Cup is going to prove ruinous to the public fund.

Of course, this little band of non-conformists becomes the salvation of the community, but plain, practical Muggles emerges as the leader of the rebels simply because she's the one who can stay focused on the necessities. Every time I read this "simple" little fantasy I find something new to laugh at: the door-painting episode or the family tree or Gummy's poems. There is always a national leader somewhere in the world who is behaving like a Period. So I recommend this children's book to the young at heart who are old enough to appreciate it!

This review is based on the paperback first edition.

I'm 43 now and first read the Gammage Cup 35 years ago for a summer reading club. I just read the book to my pre-teen daughters, who loved it as much as I did. It's a wonderful book.

The story, written in the depths of the Cold War, explores how several colorful characters are banished from an isolated, close-knit community when their nonconformity is viewed as a threat to the established order. Their patriotism becomes evident to their fellow townspeople when they save their valley from savage invaders (who happen to resemble Nikita Khrushchev).

I'm glad to see the Gammage Cup is back in print, and I hope they make a (good) movie out of it!

Of the many words to describe this book, Wow is definatly one of them! This book was the best book i have read in a long time, and it was required reading! The minnipins of slipper on the water are usually very mellow and follow everything that the periods, their leaders, say. They all dressed and acted the same. But when a contest to see whose town is the best comes along, people start showing indivituality. There are 5 of them, Oh Thems. Muggles Mingy Gummy Curly Green and Walter the Earl. The town outlaws them and send them up the river. While near the mountains, strange things start to happen. Creatures are going to attack Slipper on the water! Can the 5 outlaws save the town they once loved? Find out in... The Gamage Cup.

How rare indeed to find a book to be enjoyed throughout a lifetime-- and worthy for many more! I first read this book when I was 12... I am now 18, and believe me, I've read loads of fantasy, but the Gammage Cup has a sparkle and a wit to stay brilliant and fresh with each new reading, out loud or to self. I have read this book aloud about ten times, and it is fascinating to me how every person interperets something different between it's fluid pages. For me, I think that the simple fact that it covers so many facets, is the very reason it holds me so. Carol Kendall allows me to become every character in the book, to rise and fall with their life's undulations, to breath as Muggles, to walk as Gummy, to feel the steady heart of Walter the Earl. And yet, though there are steariotypes to be seen at first glance, beneath those verbal exteriors lie real people, so real that you get to know them better and better with each reading. Indeed, on the surface you will see a charming story with colorful characters, an exciting plot, bouncing rhythm. But to chip at this jewel is to uncover a deeper self, endless allusions to all facets of life, an unplumbed sea of rhythmic words. It is a book about discovering one's self and standing firm for something-- of loyalty and friendship, of various personality. From maxims to bursting verse, it speaks with the depth of a chess master-- Truly, a book for the ageless.

The Gammage Cup, originally published in 1959, is a children's fantasy novel by Carol Kendall. It centers on the Minnipins, an isolated race of stuck-up traditionalists, who eject the nonconformist elements from their midst. These exiles (one of whom is named Muggles - take that, J.K. Rowling!), to no one's surprise, become responsible for saving the day, and in doing so win the battle for individuality.

The Gammage Cup is, at its heart, a morality tale about nonconformity and individuality. This cannot be missed, nor can it be disputed, as Kendall always goes the extra mile to hammer the reader with that. The story remains engaging, though, because Kendall's characters are interesting and the book moves at a fairly brisk pace. The interaction between the characters is also well done. Her little world is well-created, and she fits in a surprising amount of its history without ever becoming tedious.

The book falls a little flat at the end, though, as Kendall seems to rush through the mysterious (and ridiculous-looking) invaders, the magic swords, the battle, and so forth. She writes well on the individual, personal level; less so on that larger scale.

On the whole, The Gammage Cup is a heavy-handed but decent children's fantasy novel.