Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Tale of Greta Gumboot and Other Stories - A Great Collection of Stories for Children

The Tale of Greta Gumboot and Other Stories, by Lee Pritchett, is a wonderful collection of stories set in a magical world. Greta Gumboot, the bad witch of the forest, loved turning forest animals into wonderful tasty treats. Imagine a real bunny turned into a chocolate bunny. Yummy! But, of course, this really wasn’t a nice thing to do so Greta Gumboot was taught a lesson by those very same animals she’d eaten. What a cute story with a good lesson. Greta Gumboot, bad witch-turned-good, ends up helping others and being a good friend to those she used to turn into candy!

Greta Gumboot is just the first of several exciting tales in this book. Although the book is geared for the 4- to 8-year-old child, I believe older children will also enjoy it. The tales include Gilby, a wizard’s apprentice, who saves the kingdom, and Mr. Bumbles, the wizard who loses his hat and magic but, thanks to Greta Gumboot, receives both back along with a group of new friends.

This book is full of wizards, witches, goblins, princesses, and even a kitten and an epheline (wondering what that is?). Each story is a unit unto itself but many of them are intertwined in a very intriguing way. Children will want to continue reading, not because it’s passed their bedtime, but because the stories are so good. Luckily, the book is broken up into several tales so that he or she can start a new tale the following day.

All the stories are great but my own personal favorite is Holly and the Unicorn. Holly gets all the forest animals, including a rabbit with headphones and a dancing bear, to help find the baby unicorn’s Mum. This is just too cute.

Each one of these tales could have been a book by itself, but Lee Pritchett has combined them all into one big book for your child to enjoy. This may be Mr. Pritchett’s first book but it certainly won’t be his last. And if you’re wondering what an epheline is, you’ll just have to read Lee Pritchett’s The Tale of Greta Gumboot and Other Stories!

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