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Mister Whistler
A hilarious, lively picture book. Mister Whistler always has a song in his head and a dance in his legs. But when he has to catch the train, he is so distracted he loses his ticket-and has to dance his way out of his clothes to find it. The author, Margaret Mahy, received the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006.
34 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Mahy
404 books291 followersMargaret 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 20, 2022
Story about a man who has a tune stuck in his head. He has to go to the trainstation, but puts his ticket between his teeth, and then thinks he's lost it. He ends up taking off most of his clothes looking for it, only to eventually discover it between his teeth.
May 31, 2023
A funny read about a man who takes off most of his clothes in public while looking for his train ticket. My child thought the picture book was funny, but she was concerned how far the story would take the joke.
November 15, 2017
The protagonist basically earns money from strangers for doing a striptease. Yikes!
December 30, 2017
Average children's book.
January 6, 2019
An obscene book about a dancer who strips in public. Sad!
January 17, 2019
One of my favourite picture books.
August 6, 2020
My six year old and I laughed out loud once we figured out what the main character was going to do...and then did. A great, fun book.
June 4, 2021
More strange than funny. Might have made a comical movie scene but it was weird as a children's book.
December 14, 2022
Weird story. Just silly and strange.
December 16, 2016
Hans Christian Andersen award winning author Margaret Mahy's distinctive voice lends itself to the droll story of Mister Whistler, whose "twitching feet were longing to dance." When his great-aunt asks him for help, he quickly dresses (in a very snazzy style) and leaves for the train station. The song in his head keeps playing and he dances all the way there.
Once on the train platform, Mr. Whistler can't seem to locate his ticket. So, one by one, he goes through each article of clothing, searching for the ticket and discarding the clothing as he goes, until . . . he's not wearing much of anything. And his ticket has been in plain sight the whole time!
This story has innate child appeal . . . all the stages of getting dressed and undressed (and dressed again -- don't worry, his aunt "would be furious if I turned up in my underwear.") New Zealand illustrator Gavin Bishop's energetic illustrations add to the appeal. Each page is full of movement: Mr. Whistler seems to be dancing with every part of his body. The tune in Mr. Whistler's head is made visible to the reader as music notes floating across the page. The facial expressions of Mr. Whistler and his growing audience add to the humor. The color palette is a bit unusual; a muted palette with lots of shades of green and yellows and blues.
Mahy's text fairly dances at times too (rhyme & repetition): "Nothing in the right pocket./Nothing in the left" repeats for waistcoat pockets and trouser pockets. She includes some interesting and fun vocabulary: smeary, waistcoat, scatterbrained, I'm looking forward to sharing this one with kindergarten/early elementary age children.
Once on the train platform, Mr. Whistler can't seem to locate his ticket. So, one by one, he goes through each article of clothing, searching for the ticket and discarding the clothing as he goes, until . . . he's not wearing much of anything. And his ticket has been in plain sight the whole time!
This story has innate child appeal . . . all the stages of getting dressed and undressed (and dressed again -- don't worry, his aunt "would be furious if I turned up in my underwear.") New Zealand illustrator Gavin Bishop's energetic illustrations add to the appeal. Each page is full of movement: Mr. Whistler seems to be dancing with every part of his body. The tune in Mr. Whistler's head is made visible to the reader as music notes floating across the page. The facial expressions of Mr. Whistler and his growing audience add to the humor. The color palette is a bit unusual; a muted palette with lots of shades of green and yellows and blues.
Mahy's text fairly dances at times too (rhyme & repetition): "Nothing in the right pocket./Nothing in the left" repeats for waistcoat pockets and trouser pockets. She includes some interesting and fun vocabulary: smeary, waistcoat, scatterbrained, I'm looking forward to sharing this one with kindergarten/early elementary age children.
July 28, 2013
Mister Whistler is a man that has a song in his heart and a step in his feet. One day he is awoken by an elderly out-of-town aunt in need of some assistance. Mister Whistler would rather spend the day dancing, but heads off to the train station to board a train to his aunts. Even though he knew he had his boarding ticket somewhere he was unable to locate it in his numerous pockets. With that song still playing in his heart and feet he stripes down to his polka dotted boxers, searching each pocket with each layer removed; unaware that the everyone present is watching.
I think this is the first picture book that has a stripper, even though he is oblivious to his actions, that I have ever read. So kudos to Margaret Mahy for originality.
I think this is the first picture book that has a stripper, even though he is oblivious to his actions, that I have ever read. So kudos to Margaret Mahy for originality.
February 26, 2014
With a song in his head, Mister Whistler gets dressed and ready to take the train to see his Great-Aunt Lydia Whistler. She needs her windows washed, after all. But at the train station he misplaces his ticket. With that tune still nagging his brain he proceeds to look in all of his clothes, and take them off too, in order to find it. Pair this one with Mr. Tuggle's Troubles for some fun stories about clothing mishaps.
February 10, 2016
I thought this book very odd, though my 5yo thought it was okay.
A man with music on the brain needs to go help his great aunt clean her windows. He dances and whistles his way to the train station where he "loses" his ticket by sticking it in his mouth to use both hands to do something. Then he does a G-rated strip tease to search for it. From this, he gets donations in his hat (or "dancing money" as I like to call it) to buy another ticket.
Illustrations are okay.
A man with music on the brain needs to go help his great aunt clean her windows. He dances and whistles his way to the train station where he "loses" his ticket by sticking it in his mouth to use both hands to do something. Then he does a G-rated strip tease to search for it. From this, he gets donations in his hat (or "dancing money" as I like to call it) to buy another ticket.
Illustrations are okay.
November 17, 2012
Oh Mr Whistler! You are so handsome, talented and funny, but so absentminded! Bishop's illustrations match perfectly and in detail Mahy's story. This beautifully edited picture book will be a delightful read for families with small children and also to older children. The predictability of the story makes it easy for younger readers but the hidden humour makes it perfect for independent readers.
February 23, 2013
As always, a sense of magic pervades the language. The plot is clever and everything works out in the end. The illustrations give the story a timeless, classic feel and convey the movement and music of the story. The story did seem a bit long though.
April 7, 2013
Mister Whistler seems to always have a song in his head and a longing to dance. Preparing for a train trip he dances in and out of his clothes...and people throw money in his hat! New Zealand author and illustrator.
August 1, 2013
Margaret Mahy's use of language is always poetic in her picture books, and this is no exception. The story is simple and charming with a surprise ending. And it is interesting to know that in New Zealand pepole are not astonished at someone doing a striptease dance on a train station platform.
January 25, 2014
This is a fun tale about a man who is looking for his ticket. It is in his mouth, but he doesn't realize it. Will he be able to get to his aunt's to help her? Or will he be stranded?
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December 17, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. I've been enjoying Mahy's book for some time now, but this one is probably my favorite of hers. It's just so upbeat, and silly, and realistic at the same time. We've all lost the object that is in our other hand or in our pocket or wherever.
March 13, 2013
Not awesome. Sure, the storyline held my interest but I didn't care for the illustrations.
May 2, 2013
What a crazy story!
June 6, 2013
My husband says I'm this forgetful.
October 15, 2013
Verrra strange. That was one durable ticket . . . until it got swallowed!
January 19, 2014
Very silly with good word choice. Younger kids will laugh, I just didn't enjoy it.
February 15, 2015
a very musical picture book
March 31, 2015
I really liked. Mister Whistler. It's a cool book. About dancing and singing and loosing your train ticket.
July 29, 2013
Gotta sing, gotta dance! Whimsical and distinctive.
June 23, 2014
Notes:
the kids said they really liked it but we only read it twice and then they lost interest
the kids said they really liked it but we only read it twice and then they lost interest
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews