Module 4 Ginger Pye September 21-27 Newberry and Printz Winners

Ginger Pye

by Elanor Estes

Summary

This book is about Jerry Pye and his family. He has a younger sister, Rachel, a wonderful mother and a father that studies birds. One of the Pye's neighbors has had a litter of puppies and Jerry has picked out one that he thinks is particularly smart. His first obstacle is making sure that he can buy the dog from Mrs. Speedy, because someone else in town has decided that they would like to own the dog as well. Through a family friend, the young Pyes were able to earn enough money to buy the dog before the other person could claim him. As the children were taking Ginger home, they thought that someone may have been following them.

The kids name the dog Ginger and soon he proves to be quite a remarkable dog. Ginger is so remarkable in fact, that someone steals him away from the Pyes. He is stolen before Thanksgiving and it took the family months to find him.

My thoughts

I didn't care too much for this book. It seemed a little dated, but that is not the overall problem that I found with it. I felt that there was too much filler in the book and not enough written about the main obstacle. I do not feel that children of today would have the attention span for this type of book. I hate to admit it, but I barely did. The story would take us to rock on the other side of town and I would think “when are she going to get back to the main plot?”

I enjoyed the illustrations with this book. They are simple and quant. They are plan sketches.

I did really enjoy some of the dialogue. Some of the dialogue was old fashioned, but I really enjoyed that. The author did a good job of showing life in a small town. For example, it seems as if everywhere the children went, they seemed to know everyone else. I think that this was very charming.

Reviews about the book

Horn Book said this “is the book for which we have been waiting” and that this book is “an ourstanding book.” (Horn Book 1952)

Usage in a library setting

I think this would be an excellent book to use in a program regarding kids' grandparents. I think this novel is a wonderful example of the day to day life of people in the early 1950's. A great idea for a program would be to have a grandparents week where they read these stories with their grandchild.

References

"Ginger Pye." Horn Book July / August (1952): Print.