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The Pushcart War

by Jean Merrill (Author), Ronni Solbert (Illustrator)

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 1,443 ratings · 189 reviews

The pushcarts have declared war! New York City's streets are clogged with huge, rude trucks that park where they want, hold up traffic, and bulldoze into anything that is in their way, and the pushcart peddlers are determined to get rid of them. But the trucks are just as determined to get rid of the pushcarts, and chaos results in the city.

The pushcarts have come up with...more

Hardcover, 187 pages

Published by Tempo Books (first published 1964)

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Jun 13, 2007 Rachel Nobel Fields rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

One of my favorite books from childhood, it tells the story of a war in New York City in 1986 between the pushcarts and the trucks. It reads so realistically that I always thought it was true, and I always wanted to go down to Bleecker Street to take place in the annual reenactment.

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Feb 11, 2008 Sq.Hill Library rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kristen, historical-fiction

Well, every male that saw me reading this book (okay, so just my husband and the guy at Coffee Tree...) kept on saying how it was their favorite book when they were in first grade. I think that is a bit ambitios about the reading level; I would put it at grades 2-4, but I can see the attraction. It's a "war" in NYC between the pushcarts and the truckers. The big weapon is a pea-shooter. I always feel like I have a more difficult time recommending books for boys (being that I never was one!)... t...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Gale rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor-young-adult

“Pushcarts Aren’t Pushovers Anymore!”

Delightfully outrageous, strategically-logical but cleverly humorous this story of 222 pages is a fast and fun read! There are no teenage protagonists, but masses of unnamed kids do their part. Philosophical question: Can a major metropolis have too many big rigs for its own good? Are the streets now the private preserve of Mighty Mammoths and other predatory trucks? Do we really need these isolated foot vendors perambulating along the curbs, offering their...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Penny Peck rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-ya

When I read Jean Merrill’s obituary a few weeks ago, I immediately knew the title The Pushcart War even though I had never read it. The book was often requested by 3rd and 4th grade teachers to use as a classroom readaloud, and it was part of the curriculum in some of the local elementary schools. So I checked it out of the library to read it for myself.
After nearly 50 years in publication, The Pushcart War still resonates. It is an allegory about war, and set in New York City, about a fictiona...more When I read Jean Merrill’s obituary a few weeks ago, I immediately knew the title The Pushcart War even though I had never read it. The book was often requested by 3rd and 4th grade teachers to use as a classroom readaloud, and it was part of the curriculum in some of the local elementary schools. So I checked it out of the library to read it for myself.
After nearly 50 years in publication, The Pushcart War still resonates. It is an allegory about war, and set in New York City, about a fictional “war” that occurred in 1986. Once the reader accepts that this is an “old” book about a fictional war in the future (sort of like Orwell’s 1984), it is easy to follow the story. The pen sketches that decorate the chapters add interest – I wish more novels for tweens featured illustration, the way the books of Roald Dahl always have. In writing style, this reminded me of Norton Juster’s Phantom Tollbooth (which has great cartoon artwork by Jules Feiffer); it is told as a news report with elements of a fable, which gives it an engaging quality.
The plot concerns an historic war between pushcart operators and the truck drivers who blocked the streets, making it difficult for pushcarts to sell their wares. A reader doesn’t have to know what New York City is like – a similar scene could take place in San Francisco’s Chinatown or other urban area. The story has humor, and surprisingly, no child as a major character. It is the rare children’s book that features all adults as the regular characters.
One chapter concerns a small group of unnamed children who participate in the war, shooting pins at truck tires to sabotage them. It is a little like the U.S. Civil Rights movement, when children marched and participated in boycotts.
It is also a story of the small worker against “big business,” which should make a certain political party angry. Recently, the film “The Muppets,” released in 2011, drew the ire of some right wingers who felt the plot was “anti-business;” the Muppets battle a big oil tycoon (named Richman) for ownership of the Muppet Theater. The Pushcart War could draw the same criticism for those who don’t grasp the point of the book. Or maybe by a few super-rich who do get the point – that the little guy should have a chance to do business as much as “big business.”
It is a great novel for the reader to experience allegory and symbolism, because it is funny, so it doesn’t come across as heavy-handed. And in many ways, it is very timely. Young people who have seen parents and neighbors participate in the Occupy movement will certainly relate to this story.
(less)

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Aug 18, 2012 D.M. Dutcher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s, classic

When I was a kid, this was a five star book. I loved the invention, the art, and the whimsical story. But rereading it as an adult made me aware that the book has a political message, and it's awfully one-sided. Still enjoyable though, and still a classic.

A angry truck driver knocking down a pushcart in his way sparks an entire war between pushcarts and trucks in New York City. This book is a history of the war between the Pushcart King and the Big Three.

It's very well written, and a masterpiec...more

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May 10, 2010 Rich Stoehr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The Pushcart War started on the afternoon of March 15, 1986, when a truck ran down a pushcart belonging to a flower peddler."

So begins "The Pushcart War" by Jean Merrill, one of my favorite books when I was a child and one of the books that has endured as a favorite still today. A small, little-known book of a little over 200 pages, a book that can be read fairly easily in a single rainy afternoon, if one is so inclined.

"The Pushcart War" is the story of a "little" war on the streets of New Yor...more "The Pushcart War started on the afternoon of March 15, 1986, when a truck ran down a pushcart belonging to a flower peddler."

So begins "The Pushcart War" by Jean Merrill, one of my favorite books when I was a child and one of the books that has endured as a favorite still today. A small, little-known book of a little over 200 pages, a book that can be read fairly easily in a single rainy afternoon, if one is so inclined.

"The Pushcart War" is the story of a "little" war on the streets of New York, a war that begins between the old-fashioned pushcart peddlers selling their wares at the sides of the street, and the oversized trucks which are bullying their way into more and more of the available space on the road. It starts with the destruction of a single pushcart by an angry truck driver, but escalates into multiple campaigns, strategies, and political countermeasures as the story goes on. The memorable Pea-Shooter campaign, the Peanut-Butter Speech, the Tacks Tax, the Raid on Maxie Hammerman's, the Portlette Papers, the Capture of the Bulletproof Italian Car, the Truce, the Peace March, the War of Words, and the Battle of Bleecker Street are only a few of the notable moments of the progression of the war, which eventually involves most of the citizens of the city, and becomes known by national and even international figures, including a movie star and the President of the United States.

So many books for children have a tendency to take themselves and the morals they espouse so seriously, but fortunately "The Pushcart War" is not one of those books. While it does have a point to make, it makes it with light heart and always with a good sense of humor. The story of the struggling pushcart peddlers and the bullying trucks becomes a miniature view for all conflicts between an oppressive groups and their chosen victims, and the lesson is that anyone can find a way to fight back, no matter how the odds are stacked against them. The ideas of civil disobedience and equal rights, as well as the essentially silly but potentially harmful nature of politics, are all expressed here.

However, these themes are only the backdrop of the story, which is above all else infectiously entertaining and irresistible. Despite a gap of nearly 20 years between my original reading of it and my recent one, I find it is a story which has stuck with me through the years, one which I cannot forget. The characters (Frank the Flower, Harry the Hot Dog, and General Anna among them) are quickly but not hastily drawn, and live and breathe as though plucked off the very streets of New York City. The situations presented are ridiculous in their way, but compelling and funny. And of course, the story of the little guy's fight against the big guy is appealing to every child, and to most adults.

"Don't be a truck." Take a few hours and allow yourself to be drawn into "The Pushcart War." I don't know if you'll treasure it the way I have come to, but I'm sure you'll find it a rewarding experience. This story of crackpots and campaigns, of trucks and tacks, of politics and pea-shooters and pushcarts, is a charming, light-hearted story which never lets the message overshadow the telling of the tale. This is a story children and adults can read and both will get something special from it. I truly hope you enjoy it as much as I have. (less)

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Nov 10, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Pushcart war is one of my favorite young adult/children books. I read it for the first time when I was in sixth grade. It stuck with me as one of those fun stories you find yourself reliving every few years which you heard in early childhood. Recently I mentioned it in casual conversation with my wife. As serendipity would have it the very next day a co-workers of my wife's mentioned this title to her as an example of a fiction story using nonviolent resistance.

Since then she got it from th...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Jack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Parents who read to their kids

Recommended to Jack by: Scholastic Books

I've been going back and looking at some of the oldest books in my collection, wondering why I chose them. This was one of them and it was delightful to read it again. The last time I read it was over 40 years ago.

Yes, I've lugged this book around through 17 moves in my lifetime and always looked at it fondly as I put it back upon the shelf but, for some reason, never went back to it... possibly because it was a "juvenile."

But, as I will soon be moving to NJ to be with my lovely Mary-Claude and...more

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Nov 20, 2009 Susan Mortimer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: absolutely everyone

Shelves: lis-565

This fabulous book is the story of the struggle of the pushcart vendors of New York City as they launch a war to retain their rights to exist among the ever-increasingly crowded and competitive streets of their city. The pushcart vendors have to compete against taxis, cars and pedestrians for space, but what they really have to worry about are the trucks. The trucks are getting bigger over time, and their operators are getting greedier for a larger slice of the increasingly scarce commodity of s...more This fabulous book is the story of the struggle of the pushcart vendors of New York City as they launch a war to retain their rights to exist among the ever-increasingly crowded and competitive streets of their city. The pushcart vendors have to compete against taxis, cars and pedestrians for space, but what they really have to worry about are the trucks. The trucks are getting bigger over time, and their operators are getting greedier for a larger slice of the increasingly scarce commodity of space on the streets. History is replete with stories of war over scarce commodities, and between the dominant and the dominated, and that is exactly what The Pushcart War is - the “historical” account of a particular war between the haves and the have-nots (as all wars are, arguably, about).

This book begins with a Foreword by “Professor Lyman Cumberly of N.Y.U, author of The Large Object Theory of History,” and an Introduction by the author, referencing the importance of examining this war from an historical perspective, and thanking the characters (presumed real here) for their assistance in compiling this account. This is a clever and ingenious method by Merrill with which to write about a fictional war, while at the same time underscoring the thought that all wars are waged over this idea of power. This book was originally published in 1964, and is “written” in 1986, ten years after the “war” so that the author is able to tell the story with the benefit of hindsight as to what occurred and why. (I found it particularly disturbing to learn that later editions have updated these dates, presuming, I suppose, that children would not “get” it otherwise. I think this is a ridiculous and offensive idea for many reasons, which I won’t go into here.)

The story is thoroughly well-written, captivating, and, not least, replete with fabulous illustrations that allow the reader to more fully enter the world of the already well-developed characters and setting. This is a book that most children will enjoy based on the engaging story as presented alone; for some it will also serve as a springboard for reflection about the concepts of justice, power, and war. Because this is a war story without vivid depiction of the atrocities of real war, this is an excellent choice from which to examine the concepts without being overwhelmed by the horrors.

On a more personal note, I've been reading this books every few years since the mid-1970s, and it has never lost its charm for me, while it also has continued to gain in importance for me over the years. If I had a shortlist of "must-reads," this one would be on it. (Ages 8-108)(less)

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Apr 28, 2009 noodle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: EVERYONE

Recommended to noodle by: Mom

Shelves: belongs-to-my-parents, dds-800s-literature, jf

For no particular reason, the phrase "Maxie Hammerman, the Pushcart King" slid to the front of my mind a few minutes ago, and it made me smile so stupidly that I just had to get this book on my list.

My mother first read the story to my older brother and me when we were small. When I got taller, I saw it on the family bookshelf and read it again. I've read this book several times, and I think it might be among those that I've read aloud to my younger sisters. If I haven't, shame on me. I love thi...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Alicia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Alicia by: Isaac (years ago)

Josh loved this and gives it SIX stars! I enjoyed this clever and entertaining book set in 1986 (but written in 1964). After truck drivers in NYC are mean to the pushcart peddlars, the pushcart peddlars start a "war" on the trucks, giving the trucks flat tires. This book has been described as a satire and/or a parable about how some wars started in the olden days. It is written as a "historical account", and I'll admit that I was completely taken in at the beginning, thinking it was a true story...more

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Jun 06, 2007 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-ya, fiction

A delightful book. As a kid, it's about little guys triumphing over big guys. As an adult, with a wink and a nod, you can actually see that it's unabashed, though relatively harmless, socialist propaganda. Read it anyway, and don't be a truck.

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Oct 12, 2012 Kristine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile, fiction

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

Marvelous, clever, humorous yet serious... juvenile fiction.

A look at human beings in conflict -- mammoth-sized trucks (and related people) bullying the much smaller pushcarts (and their people) --

and the way a small act of conflict taps into simmering emotions to grow larger conflicts...individual and group actions both matter...

CONFUSION ALERT: The "here is the real story" history writing style
that readers encounter at the very beginning with a "Forward" by a
"Prof...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Barb rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just rewrite this after probably 25 years. It started out a little slow but then picks up speed. I kept having to remind myself that the book was written in the early 1960s, in the thick of the Civil Rights Movement, preVietnam protests. It is a book that glorifies nonviolent civil disobedience. It also gives the message that with intelligence and cunning, the little guy can win. This book, published in 1964' but set in 1996 retells the fictional history of 1986. Reading it in 2012 with that i...more

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Apr 23, 2011 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens

The Pushcart War recounts the history of a four-month turf war between New York City's pushcart peddlers and truck drivers. In spite of the fact that this "war" never really happened, Jean Merrill blurs the line between history and fiction by mentioning every so often that some incident related to the Pushcart War is the source of a now-famous New York saying, holiday, or statue (none of which, of course, exist). Merrill writes the story like it's a work of investigative journalism, but the char...more

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Jul 04, 2009 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finished a combination of reading and listening to the Pushcart War. One of the only books from my childhood that I almost immediately reread after finishing it the first time. Have read it to my kids and now we have listened to it as well. We laughed quite a bit at this story of the war between pushcarts and trucks in New York City. The characters are appealing and the action non-stop. The author's historical approach, piecing details together from different sources, also appeals to the histori...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Josephine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Originally published in 1964, The Pushcart War was set in the writer's future. Things have changed a bit in the intervening fifty years, for good and for ill, but the basic plot device in this book still might hold true: New York City traffic is still bad (second only to Los Angeles) but there aren't quite so many pushcarts around as there were in the early '60s and they're still a viable way to get your lunch.

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May 02, 2013 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens, read2013

I heard this was a must read children's classic, and my library had a copy so I gave it a go. Written in 1964 it chronicles the events surrounding a fictitious war that takes place in the future, 1986, and is written from a historical perspective (looking back on the past events from 1996). It details the actions of two groups, the pushcart peddlers and the truck drivers in New York City who are at war for space on the street.

I thought it was somewhat dated, but still had some overarching explan...more

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Apr 13, 2010 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-ya-book-challenge, 2010-book-challenge, audio, fiction, humor, ya-12-19

This book was hilarious. Finally a satire that I could just laugh at and not be told that it was making fun of any particular thing then analyze it. I could liken it to whatever, if I wanted. Which at this time, I didn't want to. I was perfectly fine listening to how more and more outrageous this war got. The funniest directions that it took--yet still believable. And the narrator was fun to listen to with all of his different New York accents. The only reason it took me longer to read was becau...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Tenley Nadine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got the book as a Christmas present from my Dad who apparently read and loved it while he was still in school (for the record, my present also included a package of dried peas and some straws). I immediately sat down to read it and was hooked, it was incredible. Possibly me favorite aspect is that its written as if for a history textbook. I can't really explain why I love that, but I just do. I guess because it was such a refreshing change of pace, there's not a lot of books written in that fo...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, reviewed

This is an utterly charming, satirical look at capitalism, corruption, and city life - a book I love not only because of the nostalgia factor (I first read it in fifth grade) but because it is good. The plot and pacing are strong, the dialogue is tongue-in-cheek and hilarious, and the characterization is spot-on. I will forever be a proponent of the Large Object Theory of History. Along with, I think, every library and elementary school classroom, and hopefully every home. The Pushcart War is th...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Kaion rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, childrens

The war on the city streets between the carts and the trucks starts one day when Mack the Mammoth-Moving driver guns his engine to ram into the Morris the Florist's cart-- an event heretofore known as The Daffodil Massacre.

Part parable, part satire, The Pushcart War is a vaguely charming look at conflict and grass-roots 'politics' as it were... comprised of misunderstanding/miscommunication, business interests, solidarity, propaganda, and old-fashioned can-do attitude. While I enjoyed it concept...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-book, fantasy

This charming celebration of city life details the (imaginary, needless to say) fight between New York city's pushcarts, and the forces of "progress" in the shape of large trucks. The three owners of the large trucking firms plot to put the pushcarts out of business, as a first step to ridding the city of cars, taxis, everything but big trucks. They reckon without the cohesion and determination of the pushcart owners, and New Yorkers' love of the products they sell.

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Feb 12, 2013 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Current bedtime read with Kristen.

It had been so long since I read this that I thought it was a short picture book! I'd completely forgotten that it's a fairly lengthy chapter book. Silly me.

UPDATE: This left me feeling much flatter than I thought it would. I had such a strong recollection of enjoying this as a kid, and yet I'm sitting here now scratching my head, wondering whether I've changed so much, or whether there is an abridged version that was actually what I read as a child. It just doe...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Mercedes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-ya

I checked this out of the library after reading an obit in the NY Times about Jean Merrill. This children book outlines a fictional war between the small family pushcart peddlers and the big trucks wanting to take over the commerce in the city. The attack involves using pea shooters to shoot darts into the tires of the trucks and for a children's book it is cleverly subversive.

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Feb 01, 2011 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was the first book my brother Joel gave me for my birthday. I think it was the start to my own original library. Being the youngest of four I had hand-me-down books and shared family books. More than an omen of filled bookshelves to come, it was a facinating book to me at the time that intrigued my imagination and set me to day dreaming about maps and pushpins and peas.

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Jan 13, 2010 K. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-aloud-to-kids-shelf

Fun to read with the kids. Lots of laughs.

The author states that her intention in writing the book is to teach children just how a war can start. As silly as this book is, I think it did teach that. The kids could see how anger, selfishness, and pride can make people do really foolish things and how that can lead to bad feelings on a large scale.

Great fun.

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Feb 09, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book, children-s-books

I enjoyed listening to this book. It is of course a little far fetched, but not in a way to make me not want to read it. Mostly it made me chuckle. It is an interesting way to discuss and explore why wars start and how they function. The gentleman who recorded the book did a fabulous job with the New York accent which made it fun to listen to.

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Feb 24, 2010 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My son had to read this for class so I read along to help direct him with his chapter questions. It's a really good children's book about the pushcarts in a big city versus the big trucks in that city. It's really well written and have a lot of colorful characters. It was easy to read and I think both boys and girls would like it.

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Dec 23, 2008 Mark LaMountain added it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-long-ago

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Quotes from The Pushcart War

“My father always says one thing leads to another. It certainly does. I started out to buy a friend a birthday present, and I end up trying to get a factory to go with it....” — 5 people liked it

“Carlos was known to the pushcart peddlers as the most skillful carton-flattener in the Lower East Side section of New York City. Carlos' business was to go around to small stores that had clean cardboard cartons which they wished to be rid of. With two or three deft motions, Carlos would flatten the cartons and carefully stack them on his pushcart. Carlos was the only flattener in the business who could stack to a height of twelve feet without the cartons slipping off.” — 1 person liked it

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