Mrs. Easter and the Storks

Mrs Easter

by V.H. Drummond

Mrs Easter and the Storks

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Faith Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was an excellent mini-adventure to read because it was difficult to predict what would happen next in the story. My favorite part was when Mrs. Easter had to basically pull a Mary Poppins in order to get onto Sam the stork. I loved the idea of her joining the adventure by using her umbrella to get on Sam gave the book its first unexpected twist. This book is good for the intended age group of four and up because the story reads as if it is a chapter book for younger kids. It has a story about Sally the stork being stolen and the adventure that awaits Sam, Billie, and Mrs. Easter. This book was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal, and winning this medal means that this book was published in the United Kingdom and it won for its illustrations. The reasons this book may have won this award is due to the use of tempera because the brightness and thickness of the colors help to indicate how serious the moment of the story is. For instance, whenever something bad is about to happen, like when the characters leave the safety of the ship to find Sally, the color used is black to show the seriousness of the situation. The blackness of the scene can be seen throughout to pages when it takes multiple actions to express how the characters are feeling with her disappearance, and this means that the author is trying to use the style of impressionism because it is easy to tell when the main character Billie is upset of being thrown off the ship or the kidnapping of Sally. If I were to use this book, I would use it if the week’s theme was royalty. During my job at a preschool, we had a week where we talked about kings and queens. If I knew about this book, I would have read this to my class to continue with the theme of royalty, but it would also add adventure to the mix.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very old-fashioned sort of silly adventure. Plus a zoo, plus giving the storks abilities they couldn't have, plus long for a picture-book.... I just did not care for it.

Does seem to be part of a series. It's possible the first Mrs. Easter book, if there is one, is better.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

1957 Greenaway Medal (for illustration) Winner

[Heather Lei · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird one for me. It is clearly old, having come from my husband's youth. (Copyright MCMLVII, if you're interested.) I'm guessing back then kids had a better attention span and larger vocabulary. It was tough keeping my 4yo and 6yo engaged at times. I pulled out all my hammy voice acting talents. Lots of words per page. Smaller illustrations done in black and white. (I'm sure an artist could identify the technique but, alas, I'm not qualified.) None of these things are bad, just strange when one is accustomed to bright and shiny modern books with three words per page.

The story is suitable silly if you can get your kids to hold still for it. I'm keeping it around for now even though I don't expect it to be requested by my kids again.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

1957 Kate Greenaway Medal