Customer Reviews

Scarecrow and His Servant

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is hysterical, poignient, learned, and not being read by kids anywhere. The publisher should be ashamed for not marketing "Scarecrow" well : my local Borders had it in " teen science fiction"! My 10 year old and I had an uproarious time with this book - Pullman is a clever, sharp and taut writer . For those who enjoyed "The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists " (another poorly sold book), or maybe the funniest parts of "Hoot",this book is for you - and tell your friends ! Teachers of grades 4-7 need to get on the ball - it isn't just Harry Potter, Captain Underpants, or Kate DeCamilla (at least she 's popular) out there !

A delightful, laugh-out-loud read, for children and adults alike. From the wonderful Phillip Pullman .

The scarecrow, lovingly constructed by the ailing farmer - and complete with turnip head - comes to life when struck by lightening. Then his travels start. He meets young Jack - all alone in the world - and says to him :" Here you are, an honest and willing youth and here am I, a Scarecrow of enterprise and talent. What would you say if I offered you the position of my personal servant ? "

Jack accepts - and their adventures begin. A rollicking tale complete with military skirmishes, pirates, lost treasure. A wonderful cast of birds, led by Granny Raven. And the villianous Buffalonis, intent on destroying all that is beautiful in the Scarecrow's true home, Spring Valley.

The story comes to its climactic finale in the courtroom where the Buffalonis plot to deprive the noble scarecrow of Spring Valley. The final chapter will leave you laughing with joy. And renewed appreciation of Phillip Pullman's exceptional talent.

Read the book with an open mind. Do not compare this with the famous Dark Materials trilogy, as some readers inevitably will do. Enjoy it purely as a story. A multi-layered story. Children will enjoy this story on their level. The astute adult reader will gain something more : The courtroom scene with its costumed pomposity and legal terminology " non independentem judgi nogoodi " is a clever broadside at the theatre of the court.

Pullman's use of the English language - and a lexicon of names as rich as J.K.Rowling's - will leave the reader wanting more from this author. I loved the Dark Materials trilogy and all its complexities. This is different - funny for the children and for the adult a clever, escapist and wholly enjoyable delight.

And where oh where is some clever film maker to bring Pullman's stories to life ? And to bring children the richness of story telling that is so important to them ? The Golden Compass, with its pivotal plot change, fell far short of the mark. Thank goodness the Harry Potter films did not err in this direction, but remained true to what J.K.Rowling intended. And in so doing, opened the door on a complex and wonderful world. The same could be achieved with the Phillip Pullman stories - the work of a master storyteller .

The book described in the editorial and readers' reviews is not the book being sold here. The book I received is not the novel described by the reviewers; it is an adaptation in the form of a play. Clicking on the illustration to get a look inside shows the paperback novel, not this adaptation. The novel itself seems to be available only through Amazon Marketplace sellers.

Amazon's practice of concatenating all reviews of all editions of a book often makes it difficult to determine what reviewers think about the particular edition one is looking at, but to show only reviews pertaining to other editions and none pertaining to the quite different book being sold goes beyond laziness.

I read this book to my 8-year old daughter. Every night, she couldn't wait til i come home from work, cuddle up under a blanket, and read it to her. She laughed, cried, and learned, and...we both fell in love with the way this scarecrow looked at life. 3 weeks later and she is still associating with, and laughing about, the positive way this creature interpreted life.

To tell the truth, I'm not much of a fan of His Dark Materials Trilogy. I felt it was a little too dark, especially because it's considered children's material. But the name Philip Pullman still has been carved (possibly for eternity) in my memory, so when I saw this book in the New Arrivals, I had to pick it up.

My first thought when I saw the cover was: aw, that's so cute. You see, it's not everyday I see a picture of a turnip with a face--a friendly one on top of it. And when I finished the book, my first thought was: aw, that's so cute. Yea. Seriously.

If you're expecting something that resembles His Dark Materials, then you're looking at the wrong book. (You should have--hopefully--been able to figure it out just from looking at the cover, which is still cute. :]) This book is just a light and humorous read possibly appropriate for kids 8 and under (though if I were a parent I would object to the appearance of the word "damn" twice), but is enjoyable as well for all ages except for maybe the teens. Depending on your views, it can also pass as satirical and political, but that's just my opinion.

This book is reminiscent of those children's books I used to read that were written long before I was born. A scarecrow is alive and animals talk and no one is surprised at either (at least not for long) and other strange things just keep happening, but eventually you learn to stop questioning and accept the magical realism. The scarecrow definitely reminds me of the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz just because they're both scarecrows. Though the Oz scarecrow didn't crack me up as much as this scarecrow does. (An abundance of illustrations with this scarecrow's hilarious turnip face also helps, of course.)

As a children's book, this one is fairly complex in its own right. Unlike those older children's books I mentioned earlier where things happen and twist around because the authors suddenly come up with an idea, the plot has been carefully planned since the beginning, which you can see if you finish the book and then reread the beginning. In addition, Pullman's writing style is less wordy than that of those old, then-alive authors. (I'm not deriding them; I'm perfectly aware that they did not have as many grammar or writing books back then.)

To sum up: a great book, much recommended for everyone who needs a laugh.

Ever since reading Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials", I practically dive at any book he writes and it's been a while since he's written anything, so I did a full swan dive for this book.

"The Scarecrow and His Servant" is purely fairy tale. I never quite believed Lord Scarecrow and Jack could be real (whereas I'm still convinced Lyra and her Daemon are out there somewhere from "His Dark Materials"). It's always a bit of a disappointment to not become so engrossed in a book, the characters become real. However, that's about the only disappointment.

Lord Scarecrow and his turnip head (though I kept picturing him as the scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz") is anxious to seek his fortune and rescue his birthplace from being polluted. On their tail is a lawyer working for the Buffalonis, the polluting family, who reminds me of Count Olaf. Poor Jack just wants to stay alive and not be hungry. In between are many adventures including a desert island, joining the military, which all leads to a climactic courtroom scene.

A great fairy tale for the preteen set (and us older preteens as well).

Philip Pullman is best known for his young-adult fantasy series "His Dark Materials" as well as the Victorian thrillers starring Sally Lockhart, but he also has quite a few children's books under his belt, all of which are whimsical and comedic in nature. "The Scarecrow and his Servant" is one such story, highly reminiscent of Lloyd Alexander's work and definitely a change of pace from Pullman's darker, more sophisticated fare.

A farmer builds a scarecrow with a turnip for a head and a broomstick for a backbone, and plants it in a field with these words of advice: "Now remember what your job is, and remember where you belong. Be courteous, be brave, and be honorable, and be kind. And the best of blooming luck." Unfortunately, the scarecrow's tenure in this particular field does not last long - each night he is stolen by a neighboring farm until he is miles away from home. But one night, in one of those million-to-one chances, the scarecrow is struck by a bolt of lightning.

Life quickens in his body, and he steps down from his perch with a clear understanding of his purpose in life: to scare birds and to fulfill his Inner Conviction of claiming Spring Valley for his own. He is joined by a young boy called Jack - with no family of his own, Jack accepts the position of servant to the scarecrow, and the two of them start off on the road to seek their fortune.

What follows is an adventure of brigands, actors, armies, birds, and lawyers, in which the scarecrow and his servant traverse the Italian countryside, fall into trouble, muddle their way out again, and inch ever-closer to their goal. Pullman relies heavily on the fairy-tale motif of a foolish master and a wise servant, for the scarecrow can often be brash and foolhardy, and it is Jack's quick thinking that keeps the two of them out of dire straits. They keep up a witty banter throughout, and their dynamic is really rather heartwarming by the book's conclusion.

Long-time fans of Pullman might notice the reoccurring theme of author's fascination with the transitory nature of physicality. In this case, various bits of the scarecrow fall off through his travels only to be replaced with other bits of paraphernalia, until it is argued at the end of the book that he is no longer the scarecrow that started his journey, but a different entity altogether. How true is this? What makes us who we are?

A similar question popped up in "The Tin Princess", in which a national flag is re-sewn until not a single thread remains that was part of the original, and in Pullman's oft-told personal anecdote about his writing shed, which went through so much disrepair and rebuilding that he doubts that any of it is part of the initial building. It poses an interesting question to young readers - where exactly does our character and substance lie? How much of it do you have to take away before one ceases to be? Pretty hefty stuff really, but this IS from the same author who killed off God in a young adult trilogy...

The story all ties together nicely by the end of the book, and is illustrated throughout by Peter Bailey, who has collaborated with Pullman on a number of his children's books. I don't think it's the *most* inventive that Pullman has ever been, but it certainly makes for a humorous and entertaining read.

Note: buyers might want to beware when ordering this particular volume. The fact that the title-page also credits the name "Simon Reade" as a writer suggests that this is the theatrical adaptation of the book, and not the story itself. Best to try a bookshop or your library first.

This review is for the audio book read by Graeme Malcolm.

When I first checked out the book I thought it might be too scary for my children (ages 9, 6, and 4) and told the children that we would try it out but might stop listening early. For comparison's sake, May Bird was too scary for them, A Drowned Maiden's Hair was not. To my pleasure, this story is not scary at all. It was actually very charming!

The language in the book is wonderful with lots of unusual words and plenty of different accents. Mr. Malcolm does a wonderful job with the voices and it was a great vocabulary builder. We enjoyed all of the puns and the twists and turns of the story.

The audio book is in five discs so I felt it was a good value.

This book can compared to the likes of Charlie and the Chocolate factory, in its fantastical portrayal of events so absurd they can only gain believability by an author of Pullmans talents. This book is a pleasure to read, and is a whimiscal journey through a fun and well told story of a boy and his scarecrow.

I purchased this book at LAX minutes before boarding my plane. My selection was based for the most part on the cover. A turnip head scarecrow was too hard to resist. I was immediately hooked and my fear of flying diminshed. (My fellow passenger was curious why a grown woman was reading a child's book.) I could see this as a movie - great characters and graphically interesting.