Book Review: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Book Review)
Bibliography.
Steig, William. 2005. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Ill. By Steig, William. New York, NY. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-1416902065.
Plot/Summary. A young donkey goes out for the day to enjoy himself, and on his adventures, he stumbles across a magical pebble. He hurries home to share this exciting news with his family, but on his way a hungry and angry looking lion begins to approach him. He panics, only thinking of a quick way to save himself, and makes a fool-hardy wish to be turned into a rock. He realizes too late (even though this wish has the intended effect of getting the lion to go away) that he must be holding the pebble to make any wishes and so cannot wish himself back to his donkey form. His parents begin to worry and search continuously for him, but eventually begin to abandon hope as no sign of him appears. The seasons begin to change, and Sylvester worries that he will never be anything more than a rock again. By a lucky coincidence, his parents happen to be going out on a picnic, trying to gain some sense of normalcy back in their lives, and stop at the exact rock that is Sylvester. The father finds the rock, and places it on Sylvester, thinking fondly how his son would have loved it for his rock collection. At this moment, Sylvester wishes as hard as he can to be himself again, at which point his is joyfully reunited with his surprised parents. They decide to put the rock away for safekeeping, because they currently have everything that they could ever desire.
Critical Analysis. I feel like thematically, the author uses this as a cautionary tale to advise young readers to both be careful what they wish for, and grateful for what they have, similar to W.W. Jacob’s “The Monkey’s Paw,” albeit in a much softer way. The story opens with a young protagonist who seems to be enjoying the simplicity of a day exploring, and how when he got a little over excited about the prospect of magic and being given whatever his heart desired, that it backfired almost immediately for him. It was interesting to me to see this play out, however, because often we see the main character become obsessed with what THEY can gain from this archetype of being given a magical gift that seems capable of solving all problems. Sylvester’s main thoughts however, are to test out the weather to make sure it works, and then the ways in which he can use the magic wishing pebble for OTHERS as well as himself. I also found myself thinking that it might be the entirety of a day before he was found, but the idea that entire seasons passed, and the underlying context that these parents were essentially dealing with the grief of losing a child made the story a little darker for me. The bittersweet moment where Sylvester finally awakens (after putting himself “to sleep” another euphemism for dying) only to find his parents lunching on top of him was a little hard to swallow. This is probably because I am not a person who enjoys close calls or that feeling of “they ALMOST made it to each other!” The overall style and concept of the book went well together; the artwork reminded me of other childhood favorites, such as “Thundercake” by Patricia Polacco and the series of Charlie and Lola Books by Lauren Child.
Review Excerpts/Awards
ALA Randolph Caldecott Medal Award Winner
ALA Notable Children’s Books
Emphasis on Reading Book Award
Selected as one of the 100 Best Books of the Century by the National Education Association.
“I am delighted that this magical book by William Steig—a magician himself—has been reissued. May it stay in print forever.” --Eric Carle
Connections.
-For wishers and dreamers, this book is a great connection to inspire hope while also instilling a sound reminder to be careful what you wish for. This is a great discussion starter for the differences between wants and needs, as well as how best to achieve them.
-This story calls back to many fables and folktales, as well as children’s classics such as “The Three Wishes” by Yuri Salzman.
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