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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I loved this as a kid, October 2, 2004
This review is from: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Paperback)
Someone wrote that this book is too depressing. I beg to differ.
I'm not a professional child psychologist, but looking back on my own experience, and how much I loved this book as a child, I think children have very powerful feelings all the time, including longing and sadness. It's comforting to see those feelings described and reflected outside yourself. If adults act like the whole world is happy-happy all the time, it can feel very lonely and isolating when you have other feelings. I would venture to guess that empathizing with characters in stories helps children develop a sense of connection between their own feelings and other people's feelings. This connection makes us feel less lonely and also allows us to be genuinely caring toward others.
I can still see, in my mind's eye, the picture of Sylvester the Rock under a blanket of snow, and feel the almost unbearable empathy that I felt for him when I read this book as a child. But it was a good feeling to feel such profound emotions. It was not unpleasant--it was very real, alive, and human--it made me feel connected with the world. And it was a safe place to feel these emotions, because I knew how the story ended, I knew everything would be okay.
I loved this book very much. I wonder if I still have it...
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magic, Unintended Consequences, and When All Seems Lost, a Happy Ending, December 10, 2005
This review is from: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Paperback)
One day, Sylvester Duncan, an endearing young burro whose hobby is collecting unusual pebbles, happens upon a truly extraordinary one. Not only is it particularly beautiful, but as Sylvester is soon to discover, it possesses powerful magical properties.
Sylvester's intentions are good and he plans to make use of the power of the pebble to help others. Nevertheless, the use of magic quickly becomes tragic, and Sylvester finds himself in a desperate situation from which escape seems all but impossible.
Reading this book to my daughters, I found myself on an emotional roller coaster ride, as the little donkey is extricated from his plight just as all hope is lost.
This is an excellent book, beautifully illustrated, and clearly deserving of the Caldecott Medal which it won in 1970.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best children's books!, August 13, 1999
By A Customer
Our children, ages 2 and 5, have been obsessed with this book. We have enjoyed it thoroughly, too. Mr. Steig's writing captures the internal experiences and emotions of the characters in a way that few books for children do. The writing encourages children to consider what it would be like to be trapped, lost, or separated from their parents, and the joy of reunion. It also has some of the greatest lines in literature: "The warmth of his own mother sitting on him woke Sylvester up from his deep winter sleep." How can you beat that?
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