Customer Reviews

The Twenty-One Balloons

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I first read this story nearly 30 years ago, when I was not quite yet a teenager; I've read it many times since. It never fails to delight, fascinate, amuse, and enthrall me. It is by turns hilarious and innovative, combining science, fantasy, whimsy, and adventure in an intoxicating magma that explodes in an eruption of high drama. OK...perhaps that last sentence was over the top, but when you're trying to describe a fantasy tale about the explosion of the Krakatoa volcano, you can get burned by using too many cute metaphors and adjectives. Look...let's keep it simple. This book rocks. It rolls. It even shakes and rattles. The story is funny, the scenes are well-choreographed, the premise is captivating, and the narrative is told in a splendidly droll manner. So, if you are 10 years old, or 20, or an old geezer like me who still likes a good kick in the head every now and then, buy this book and read it. It's got balloons, diamonds, sharks, a volcano, exotic foods, fantastical houses, and stuff that will blow your mind. Now...please tell me you liked this review!

Kids obsess over the darndest things. Scooters. Small electronic pets. Plastic accoutrements that somehow incorporate the word "jelly" into their titles. And while I am an ancient 26 years of age with only dim recollections of my idyllic midwestern youth, I think I can say with perfect certainty that there is one subject that very very few kids obsess over. Ballooning. When was the last time your child begged you for a lifetime subscription to (actual publications) "Ballooning Magazine" or "Aerostat Hot Air Balloon Magazine"? This isn't to say that when the local carnival comes to town, some kids wouldn't leap at the chance of hopping into one of those balloon rides that go up and down. But will they seriously seek out literature that feeds this all-consuming hunger for all things dirigible? William Pene du Bois apparently thought so. And so, with his 1948 Newbery Award winning, "The Twenty-One Balloons", Pene du Bois gives us a tale that is part Jules Verne part H.G. Wells with just a touch of Rube Goldberg for spice. And while I doubt that many children today will pore over the intricate technical aspects of this otherwise fun ride, they will at least be intrigued by its tale of a man, his dream, and his encounter with a truly original society.

If there was one thing Professor William Waterman Sherman was tired of, it was teaching mathematics to little children. For years and years he'd done it and finally, once retired, he was given a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. Sherman would outfit himself a fabulous balloon. It would be the second largest ever commissioned and would carry a small wicker house, in which Sherman would be able to sail in perfect peace and comfort. Containing a great deal of food, the hope on his part was to be able to sail around the world for at least a year without having to come into contact with another human being. On August 15, 1883 he sets out above the Pacific in a single balloon to live in the sky. On September 8, 1883 he is picked up by a passing American freighter in the Atlantic while, "clinging to the debris of twenty deflated balloons". How is this possible? Where did the balloons come from? How did he travel around the world so quickly? And what stories has he to tell? "The Twenty-One Balloons" is Sherman's wild, impossible, and truly original tale of his time spent on the island of Krakatoa, mere days before it exploded sky high. And what he found there will astound.

Pene du Bois begins this book with a rather touching caveat. He points out that just prior to publication his publishers couldn't help but notice similarities between this story and F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story, "The Diamond As Big As the Ritz". Pene du Bois admits that some of the similar details are a bit striking, but that he really hadn't heard of Fitzgerald's version before. A quick perusal of the two stories is enough to convince me that Pene du Bois is certainly telling the truth. Though in both tales we view rich opulent societies that own a mountain filled with diamonds and use their wealth to maintain both secrecy and a higher standard of life, Fitzgerald's story is obviously a slyly clever critique of his contemporaries while Pene du Bois concocts a delightful confection of various "what ifs". Kids reading "The Twenty-One Balloons" will instantly wish to find themselves on Krakatoa (pre-volcanic eruption, of course) and to eat at a different restaurant establishment every night.

The best word for this particular book is "innovative". When Sherman crash lands, nude, on Krakatoa, he meets its European inhabitants. Because they are so incredibly rich (all due to Krakatoa's diamond core) they spend their days inventing wild games and conveniences while indulging in delightful foods and expansions of the mind. Pene du Bois's original illustrations bring Krakatoa brilliantly to life while also explaining the technical aspects of everything from balloon merry-go-rounds to beds that change their own sheets. Though I sincerely doubt that any publisher has gone so far as to print this book without the original pictures, make absolutely certain that your book has them if you're going to purchase it. In some ways they brought to mind the delightful scribbles of Ronni Solbert in the equally amusing children's book, "The Pushcart War".

Many kids find themselves saddled with the assignment of choosing and reading one Newbery Award winning book for school. And a child could do far worse than choose the charming, "The Twenty-One Balloons". I like to think that the book is as much fun to read as it was for William Pene du Bois to write. Brilliantly conceived and full of lovely little ideas, this is one award winner that's certain to remain much loved for years and years to come. A pip.

I have just about every Newbery Award winning book on my bookshelf and I've read most of them. But not all. In particular, many of the ones written before 1950 or so still need my attention. So, periodically, I try to pick up one I haven't read and give it a go. Having just finished reading Simon Winchester's Krakatoa, where he gives such a glowing report of this book, I pulled it down from the shelf.

This is a fun book. It tells the story of a retired math teacher, William Waterman Sherman, who builds a balloon to help him get away from it all by spending a year floating through the skies. Instead, he quickly finds himself downed on the island of Krakatoa where he finds a secret colony of people living quite comfortably. He joins them. Unfortunately, in a couple days, Krakatoa erupts, destroying the island almost completely. Fortunately, the colony had prepared for the chance of eruption and everyone is saved.

Published in 1947, this book is filled with a little interesting science and a lot of fantasy. If it has a weakness, it is that this book feels a little more dated than some of the other older Newbery winners. It doesn't feel dated because of its content, however, just its prose style. Its a little formal and relates a post-Victorian view of the world which many young people probably will not understand very well.

Still, I enjoyed this story and the drawings by Mr. DuBois very much. When it comes right down to it, you can hardly go wrong with a Newbery winner. Still one of the best signs of excellence in the world of fiction--for children or no.

My teacher read this to me in the fourth grade,and I was so into it, I insisted upon reading it with my Dad and my seven-year-old brother. We where intruiged by the Krakotoans, balloons, diamoind minds, inventions(such as Mrs.M's bed that makes itself, and M-1 and M-2's beds that go through the roof), and the wonderful things they have in William Pene Dubious spactacular book. I could never tell you the whole story, so I suggest you go check out this book, or buy so you can read it anytime! This good for people who like adventure, geography, wealth, and a good imagination! This book got a Newberry Medal for 1948. DON'T MISS IT!

I had never heard of this book until a member of the AARP Bulletin Board posted that they had found it available and bought it for their grandchildren.

Amazon's reviews gave this book glowing praise, therefore, I bought it for my 13 year old grandson. When the book arrived I decided to read a few pages just to make sure it was something he might like. I never put the book down! I read the entire book, being careful not to bend the pages. Oh! what a delightful story. At 59 I was saying to myself, "Well, if he could do that, I wonder if this, or that could be done too?!?!" I knew then that this book was perfect for anyone, young or old. It's an easy to read book, and I'm only sorry I didn't order two, one for me, and one for my grandson!

I first read du Bois' work in sixth grade I believe, and I was captivated by his storytelling. In all fairness, I seldom have ever read fiction, but this book has a unique plot about it and offers fascinating elements of a story. At 19, I'm tempted to pick it up again as a refreshing escape from Macroeconomics and Brief calculus.

The Twenty-One Balloons is an excellent read at the surface. However, it also offers up serious literary excellence. Any middle school English teacher, who would have their students read this book, would talk endlessly about the merits of the book. Foreshadowing, dynamic characters... it all flows evenly to produce a work easily readable for younger crowds but intense while still somehow whimsical for older kids.

Overall, you won't be able to put the book down, and that's a serious assertion.

Wow--this is a book that I will never forget, but let me expand on that seemingly gratuitous comment. "I will never forget" this lovely tale in a variety of senses that most texts fail to entertain or touch upon that later come into my daily life. As a girl forced to read such dull societal "classics" as Little Women and the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, this book was the first that addressed my love of science, a blend of imagination and what the future can hold, and a modest suspension of disbelief while still fascinating and entertaining with every page! And the illustrations are quiet and beautiful, telling and spare, and lend a reality to the words as icing on the cake. I now bequeath this book often as a gift, since not many have heard of it, and every recipient has enjoyed it--truly! I highly recommend this book as an escape from prescribed reading at any age

William Pene du Bois creates a fantasy for all children in the Newbery medal book The Twenty-One Balloons. When Professor William Waterman Sherman, an old school teacher, is found drifting in the Atlantic Ocean among the wreckage of twenty-one balloons, America is struck with mystery. Only two to three weeks before, he had flown off over the Pacific Ocean, in a balloon from San Francisco, on a one year voyage to peace and quiet. Professor Sherman has an adventure of discovery, between his liftoff and crash , with people from his hometown. For this adventure, though, he won't need his survival skills. I liked the way William Pene du Bois gives you a very discriptive mental picture of everything that happens in this book. This makes it very easy to understand, but it also makes it a little slow for advanced readers. He combines a little adventure with a lot of fantasy to create this imaginative book. It is though, I think, more for children going into middle school because of the reading level. This book was first published in 1941 and I think that its popularity still now tells how good it is.

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pe'ne Du Bois is a very good book. It starts with W. Waterman Sherman, a schoolteacher in San Francisco, who wants to get away from it all for one full year in a hot air balloon. Just going any where the great winds took him. He thought he would have a nice long ride, and then something went (perfectly) for the better.

Back to Sherman, in a heap of wood, barrels, and twenty large balloons almost drowning! But, his story starts when he goes in one huge balloon (the Globe, a huge one room apartment in the sky) across the ocean and is attacked by seagulls. With that, he lands on an island, not any ordinary island though. He lands on the island of Krakatoa, that island is a volcanic island.

Though this book leaves you hanging a little too much, it describes this island place very well. This fiction book is set far back, for me, in time (1960's) and is funny. On Krakatoa there are lots of people like Mr. F, Mrs. F, F1, and F2. Every one is named that way on the island, from Mr. A to T2 every letter is there. Also on the island there is one thing that always helps the islanders, the largest and vastest diamond mines that are under the volcano!!!!

This book is very good at pulling you in and never letting go. I would like to thank Mrs. Shaffer, the great teacher that told me that this is a great book and then made me read it, thanks. This book is great for kids 8-14 because it has a lot of neat things most people dream about. Also because it is kind of like a fairy tale but, a adventurous one. I would recommend this book to any one so, happy reading every one! KRAKATOA!!

This was written the year I was born and I just read it for the first time. This book is a "hoot" and one you should squeeze in, no matter what your age. It will hold your interest all the way through. Very imaginative