The Girl with the Green Ear: Stories About Magic in Nature [Hardcover]

Margaret Mahy (Author), Shirley Hughes (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1992

Nine enchanting mini-adventures capture the mystery of the great outdoors by featuring the antics of such characters as Minnie Fortune, who dyes her hair green and rescues her father from a carnivorous houseplant.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite a rather ponderous title, this collection is full of airy, light-hearted mirth. Nine tales, like much of Mahy's previous work, proclaim the eventual triumph of the imagination over greed, prejudice and stultifying convention. In "The Trees"--a particularly powerful story--even the loss of a beloved stand of pines has an unexpected bright side: when the trees are felled, a sweeping view is revealed. Economic difficulties bog down the outrageously rainy town of Trickle, until its "Thunderstorms and Rainbows" are parlayed into tourist attractions. Mahy recreates the archetypical cadence of a fairy tale in "Green Needles," the story of Teddy and his encounter with a magical little man who can "thread a needle with sunshine and sew gold, or with moonlight and sew silver." These lilting anecdotes, suffused with a serene allure, will appeal to readers who seek the sparkle of enchantment in even the most commonplace events. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

K-6-- These 9 stories were chosen from collections of Mahy's work published over the last 20 years. Ranging in tone from poignant to broadly humorous, they celebrate the ``magic'' of nature's power in a mix of realism and fantasy. In ``The Trees,'' Elizabeth grieves over the cutting down of her favorite tree; the title story features a girl who can hear plants talking. Hughes's ink drawings include not only her familiar sturdy, rumpled children, but also a dragon, an enchanted merry-go-round, and a man-eating houseplant. On the minus side, the reading level varies from story to story, and the many adult characters may not be interesting to children. Among the pluses are, of course, Mahy's sure command of language and her fine hand with humor. Because of the wide range of age levels involved (from a small boy making mud pies in ``Chocolate Porridge'' to a romantically involved policeman and artist in ``Thunderstorms and Rainbows''), this collection will be best used as a read-aloud. --Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (March 17, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679922318
• ISBN-13: 978-0679922315
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,440,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars delightful tale of the hidden wonders of nature, August 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Girl with the Green Ear: Stories About Magic in Nature (Hardcover)

I truly loved Margaret Mahy's stories of magic in nature, collected here under the title The Girl With the Green Ear. She has the most wonderful descriptions of hidden wonders of the world, and her use of imagery is fabulous. The Girl With the Green Ear is just one of several short stories that show us that the world really is a fascinating place. In one story she writes how a young boy was bribed by a wicked queen with "a singing cricket in an ivory cage and a box of velvet in which sits a single dewdrop." I could read her stories forever, and they are perfect for any age.