Talking Animals and Others [Hardcover]

Michael Cart (Author)

Book Description

The first complete biography of the beloved children's book author Walter R. Brooks, creator of Freddy the Pig.

In the last ten years Overlook's Freddy the Pig rediscovery has delighted hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. But who created this famous pig? Walter R. Brooks shared much in common with his most famous literary creation, including a love of travel and adventure, a sparkling wit and intelligence, an abiding faith in friendship, and a wonderful way with words. Together, Brooks and Freddy the Pig rank among the great pioneers and heroes of classic American children's literature.

Author and librarian Michael Cart (himself a lifelong fan of Freddy the Pig of Bean Farm) gracefully combines archival research, firsthand accounts from Brooks's personal files, and interviews with his second wife to present the first complete biography of the man behind the pig. Much of the series sprang from Brooks's idyllic childhood in turn-of-the-century upstate New York among a colorful cast of family and friends. Brooks spent his adult life writing iconoclastic columns and book reviews as well as original, often fantastical stories for numerous popular publications.

Talking Animals and Others is a long-awaited homage to the gentle genius of this great American author and to the pig who lives on in the hearts of devoted readers everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Cart, whose lifelong love of the Freddy the Pig books is well known in children’s book circles, has thoroughly researched the life of Walter R. Brooks, Freddy’s creator, and chronicles it clearly and objectively. His solid knowledge of Brooks’ writing is enhanced by his numerous interviews with people who knew Brooks well and by his thoughtful analysis of the man. Readers familiar with Brooks only as a writer of children’s books may be surprised to learn that during the same years when Freddy’s imaginative adventures were appearing (1927–58), Brooks was publishing witty, urbane short stories in magazines such as Esquire, Argosy, and Atlantic Monthly. Also, he created the talking-horse character later popularized by the TV series Mister Ed. The book’s black-and-white photos offer glimpses of Brooks and his world. Extensive commentary on the Freddy books, lengthy lists of Brooks’ other stories and novels, and chapter-by-chapter source notes conclude this informative and thoroughly readable introduction to Brooks’ life and works. --Carolyn Phelan

About the Author

Michael Cart is a nationally recognized authority on children's and young adult literature. He was the Director of the Beverly Hills Public Library for many years and is the author and editor of many books, including Overlook's In the Stacks , Tomorrowland, What's So Funny, and From Romance to Realism. He has been the children's book editor for Parents magazine and is a columnist for Booklist . He lives in Columbus, Indiana.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; 1St Edition edition (January 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590201701
• ISBN-13: 978-1590201701
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,757,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our Mr. Brooks, January 16, 2009

By 

Mark Newbold (Pittsburg, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Talking Animals and Others (Hardcover)

Fans of the Freddy the pig books have been waiting for a biography of Walter R. Brooks for a terribly long time and the wait was well worth our patience. Michael Cart's bio & overview of Brooks' writings is a delight to those already in the know, and a gracious invitation to become acquainted with Brooks and the extended Bean family for the first time.

Mr. Cart has described the Freddy series as a "celebration of friendship" and I could not agree more. They're also feasts of good humor, civility, wonderful word play and poetry so darn awful it's good, especially Mrs. Peppercorn's efforts at slamming non-rhyming words into a rhyme scheme that leaves you in stitches. Like L. Frank Baum's Oz books, Brooks created uniquely American children's books/stories for kids of all ages. Freddy is an everyman, oops I mean pig- with the American ingenuity & curiosity to poke his snout into life's pleasures, muddles, and mishaps and always come out the better for it. The Freddy series often reminds me of the best of the American screwball comedies from the 1930's & 40's. There is gentle satire in each book and the villain's & their comeuppances remind me of Seneca's statement, "The way to be happy is to make vice not only odious, but ridiculous, and everyone to mind their own business." Freddy's use of a water pistol to squirt bad cheap perfume on the baddies is specially terrifying! Moral & civic lessons are woven into the books but are never heavy handed or preachy, but merely add to the fun.

Of course many people may know Brooks not from the Freddy the pig series but rather from the "Mr. Ed" TV series of the early 60's. The Brooks short stories concerning the adventures of the talking horse and his owner, Wilber were the basis for the TV series. But aside superficial appearances, there is little comparison between the rather sophisticated adult short stories and the mawkish TV series.

Not all the Freddy books are consistently great, as Brooks suffered ill health in the 1950's there are contemporary elements he attempted to weave into the books that simply don't work, usually with a cold war/political angle. But Cart provides a delightful synopses of the series toward the end of the book, demonstrating that each and every book has its moments of great humor and terrific memorable characters.

After a bad day, curling up with a Freddy book and visiting the Bean farm and the neighboring village of Centerboro is the best therapy I can suggest in this stressed out modern world.

Dedicated to James W. Mullinix (1952-1990) Freddy fan extraordinaire.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Book basically amounts to bait and switch, March 16, 2010

By 

Three if by Space (Mount Stucco, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Talking Animals and Others (Hardcover)

This isn't a book about "Freddy the Pig", it's a Walter R. Brooks biography that seems to cover almost everything except the topic readers are mostly likely to be interested in -- Brooks' talking animals. There are chapters describing undistinguished, minor stories long out of print. Brooks died long before the book was written, and author Michael Cart seems to be pandering to the warped vision of Brooks' second wife, whom Brooks married after most of the Freddy series had been written.

Finally, after 170 pages, tacked on practically as an addendum, are 80 pages of rambling blog-esque commentary on each of the Freddy books. One is hardly interested in irregularities in the number of chickens between books, and incredulous that Michael Cart feels that any of Brooks' poetry is above the level of dreck. (Is he kidding, under the watchful eye of the Overlook publisher, or just a cultural ignorant?) Given Cart's endless string of trivial and unfounded conclusions throughout the book ... probably all three.

An intelligent (and honest) college newspaper editor could have have done a better job. It's unfortunate that this may be the only published non-fiction legacy of a series that had a major impact on American culture for decades.