Take Tarts as Tarts is Passing

by Eleanor Clymer, Roy Doty (Illustrator)

When two brothers set off into the world to seek their fortunes, Jeremiah, the go-getter, took the advice of Aunt Hattie to 'take tarts as tarts is passing' literally. But Obadiah, the day-dreamer, regarded it as sheer nonsense.

As they set forth on their adventures, true to form, Obadiah takes life as it comes along and Jeremiah weighs every opportunity.

And so time passes...

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 1974

About the author

Eleanor Clymer (née Lowenton; January 7, 1906 – March 31, 2001), was a writer of children's books, best known for The Trolley Car Family (1947). She graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1928 with a degree in English. Between the years of 1943 and 1983 she published 58 books, including The Tiny Little House, My Brother Stevie, and Hamburgers–and Ice Cream for Dessert.

Clymer was born in New York City, the daughter of Russian immigrants. Through much of her life she was a resident of Katonah, New York and an active member of the nearby Unitarian Universalist fellowship. In 1980 she was awarded the Rip Van Winkle award by the School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York for outstanding contributions to children's literature.

Her son, Adam Clymer, was a journalist with The New York Times. Clymer died in 2001 at the age of 95 in Haverford, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting twist on the classic "off to seek my fortune" fairy tale. Often those classic stories tell how the older child's arrogance and coldness lead him or her to lose while the warm hearted, generous younger sibling is rewarded. In this case, the easygoing fellow who takes life as it comes does better than the serious minded obedient sibling. A very 1970s message in fact.
It didn't make much sense to me that the orderly brother would run afoul of the law, unless Clymer meant he was so literal minded he wasn't very bright. Not perhaps believable, but it is a fairy tale after all. Is it really a children's book? I would debate whether very young children would really get the point of the story. Very much for older children who grew up on classic fairy tales, or adults.
The best part of the book was the illustrations in my view.