Tingleberries, Tuckertubs and Telephones

by Margaret Mahy, Robert Staermose (Illustrator)

Saracen Hobday lives on a lonely island with his granny, who was once a detective inspector. When Granny hears that her erstwhile pirate captive has escaped, she sets off to recapture him. However, Saracen discovers that he is able to capture Grudge-Gallows all by himself.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Pirates, Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure

104 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1996

About the author

Margaret Mahy was a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.

Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance both received the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association. There have 100 children's books, 40 novels, and 20 collections of her stories published. Among her children's books, A Lion in the Meadow and The Seven Chinese Brothers and The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate are considered national classics. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Catalan and Afrikaans. In addition, some stories have been translated into Russian, Chinese and Icelandic.

For her contributions to children's literature she was made a member of the Order of New Zealand. The Margaret Mahy Medal Award was established by the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation in 1991 to provide recognition of excellence in children's literature, publishing and literacy in New Zealand. In 2006 she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award (known as the Little Nobel Prize) in recognition of a "lasting contribution to children's literature".

Margaret Mahy died on 23 July 2012.

On 29 April 2013, New Zealand’s top honour for children’s books was renamed the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret...

Reviews

[Vera Viselli · Rating 5 out of 5]

È sempre un piacere sconfinato tornare a leggere Margaret Mahy. Un telefono tutto d'oro, pubblicato nella collana Junior - 10 di Mondadori nel 1997 riesce a contenere in meno di 100 pagine una miriade di avventure tra deserti, luoghi artici e marittimi. Il protagonista è Morasco, un ragazzino che vive con sua nonna sull'Isola di Colazione e che non sente affatto l'esigenza di frequentare zone più abitate o incontrare persone: mentre sua nonna è attratta (anche troppo) da rischi e banditi di ogni sorta, Morasco al solo pensiero di dover parlare con uno sconosciuto, anche solo via telefono, si sente come una misera foglia di lattuga afflosciata nella grande insalata della vita. Ma succederà qualcosa che lo costringerà a vincere le sue abitudini solitarie, facendogli addirittura conoscere l'amore e il coraggio - per colpa di sconosciute piantine dai deliziosi frutti, di pirati evasi e di un telefono d'oro.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
* This was pretty good, it was cute how Saracen managed to achieve so much without even leaving his island!
* The tingleberries sounded nice, I surprised they didn't melt quicker though 🤣
* Fall in love ✔
* Make a fortune ✔
* Capture a naughty pirate ✔

[Marylou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book by Margaret Mahy, a wonderful children's author, filled with pirates, a shy boy, and a telephone operator with a beautiful voice

[Jolyne Kujoh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Capitalist Pirates are historically inaccurate

[Cynthia Varady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fun, exciting, and written with a child's eye in mind. My son and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it together.

[Gena Lott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun romp through all kinds of adventures and antics. Who doesn't like books with pirates and where the ending is happy?

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Younger fiction. wild imagination, gungho with silly place names - Margaret Mahy being Margaret Mahy.

Good for reluctant reader boys? Just a little bit of sickly romance that might put them off?

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is very funny- both myself and my five-year old laughed out-loud.

[Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very ridicuolus,but I highly recommend it to anyone who loves/likes ridicoulousness

[Anne Gove · Rating 4 out of 5]

4th grade Fall 2008

[571 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade 3-6 SLJ
funny and imaginative!

[Noel Arndt Caryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun read-aloud book. My boys thought it funny and entertaining.

[Amanda Inkenbrandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my absolute favorite books in elementary school. It's such a sweet, fun story. Loved it!