Harriet and William and the Terrible Creature

by Valerie Scho Carey Valerie Scho, Lynne Cherry (Illustrator)

Adventurous Harriet and her twin brother William, who likes to stay at home, fly in a spaceship to a distant planet to help an unhappy dragon.

Genres: Picture Books, Dragons

1 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1985

Reviews

[Meags · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

This was a delightful picture book which had my young students enthralled. The illustrations were great and I feel they really enhanced the story.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harriet and William are twins but they have very different personalities. William is quite content at home tending his garden; Harriet wants to travel. So, Harriet builds a spaceship and takes off. She crash lands on a planet where she meets a dragonish creature.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although they were twins, Harriet and William were as different as could be, with Harriet liking adventure and travel, and William preferring to stay home and tend his garden. After building a spaceship, Harriet invited her brother to accompany her to the stars, but he opted to remain on Earth. Passing the moon and the nearby planets, Harriet eventually crash-landed on a planet with a Terrible Creature—a rock-eating, dragonish creature who was very unhappy. In investigating the cause, Harriet discovered that he longed to eat plants rather than rocks, but has depleted his planet's supply. Realizing that the skills of a gardener might come in handy, Harriet returned to Earth, to ask William to lend a hand...

Published in 1985, Harriet and William and the Terrible Creature was the first of author Valerie Scho Carey's five picture books, but is the last I have read. It is illustrated by Lynne Cherry, a picture book creator known for such popular titles as The Great Kapok Tree and A River Ran Wild . I found the story here engaging, appreciating the melding of space opera, sibling story and tale of ecological restoration through gardening. I think I would have greatly enjoyed this story about two very different twins who nevertheless love one another and work together, had I first encountered it as a girl. The artwork is quite lovely, colorful and expressive, although I did wonder at the choice to make Harriet and William little creatures—squirrels I think, based on the bushy tales?—rather than human children. Recommended to picture book readers who enjoy original fairy-tales about fantastic creatures, space travel, and gardening.

[Hannah Holthaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very cute book about twins, Harriet and William, who were complete opposites of each other. One day Harriet wanted to go to space but her brother did not want to go with. When she got to space, she found a dragon who was crying because he had to eat rocks. Since Harriet knew that William loved to garden, she knew that they needed his help. When Harriet returned home, she convinced William to go back to space with her to help her and the dragon grow a garden so he could eat flowers again. This would be a good reading book for students to have in their boxes or just a good book to read during the day.

[Billy Noecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about Harriet going on a trip in her ship. She lands in an area that has a terrible creature. The creature is sad because it has eaten all the flowers and tree and doesn't know how to fix it. Harriet goes back to get William and they both return to the creature and replant the land with flowers and trees. The creature is happy and sad, as it realizes that the pair will leave. The duo promise to return again. This is a great book with very colorful pictures that compliment the story well. Students would really like this story.

[Juta Kruusmäe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute visuals and story. What a combination: gardening and space travel :)

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adventurous squirrel named Harriet cannot convince her twin brother William to join her on a rocket trip. So Harriet blasts off alone and crash lands on the home planet of a terrible dragonish creatuer. The sobbing creature tells her sadly that since her has eaten all the plants on his planet he has only rocks to eat. It is up to Harriet to persuade her gardener brother to return with her to the dragon's planet and help him out of his plight. Bright, lively illustrations by Lynne Cherry enliven this story for pre-school children and older.

[Amanda Connelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute book.