Babes in Toyland

by James Howe, Allen Atkinson (Illustrator)

A retelling, based on the 1903 operetta, of the classic story of how Jane and Alan are pursued by their evil uncle Barnaby who wants to kill them for their fortune.

Genres: Plays

79 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James Howe has written more than eighty books in the thirty-plus years he's been writing for young readers. It sometimes confuses people that the author of the humorous Bunnicula series also wrote the dark young adult novel, The Watcher, or such beginning reader series as Pinky and Rex and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award-winning Houndsley and Catina and its sequels. But from the beginning of his career (which came about somewhat by accident after asking himself what kind of vampire a rabbit might make), he has been most interested in letting his imagination take him in whatever direction it cared to. So far, his imagination has led him to picture books, such as I Wish I Were a Butterfly and Brontorina (about a dinosaur who dreams of being a ballerina), mysteries, poetry (in the upcoming Addie on the Inside), and fiction that deals with issues that matter deeply to him. He is especially proud of The Misfits, which inspired national No Name-Calling Week (www.nonamecallingweek.org) and its sequel Totally Joe. He does not know where his imagination will take him in the next thirty-plus years, but he is looking forward to finding out.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[booklady]

I wish I liked this more than I do. It's a classic and has been performed on Broadway, turned into an operetta, provided the basis for several television productions in the 1950s, a popular 1936 MGM film starring Laurel and Hardy and a 1961 Disney feature film Babes in Toyland starring Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands as the young lovers (Babes) and Ray Bolger as the villainous Uncle Barnaby. All the other young characters are known from fairy tales and Mother Goose. It has everything to commend it.

And this particular edition also has beautiful artwork. All I can say is it didn't do anything for me. The only thing I can think to mention which bothers me is that all the adults are negative or neutral characters. There were few good adults for the children to look up to or go to for help. Only the Moth Queen and a down and out puppet maker, Delancy Marmaduke, lend the children a hand. Even their mother, Widow Piper is only interested in furthering her own interests. But then I am out of practice reading fairy tales and I know they generally present children as the heroes and heroines. So, I suspect my lack of enthusiasm is my perspective and would not be shared by younger audiences.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer]

James Howe has taken the 1903 operetta by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonogh and turned it into a charming story book. Some of the scenes in it seemed to be "borrowed" from traditional fairy tales (for example, the bread crumb trail scene in chapter 4, reminiscent of "Hansel and Gretel"), but taken all together, it's a unique story with plenty of action, suspense, and appealing and not-so-appealing characters. It even has a touch of romance, to appeal to teens and adults. James Howe's prose is full of beautiful descriptions and pun-filled dialogue. Allen Atkinson's gentle, colorful illustrations are perfect accompaniment to the tale, and remind me of the work of Jan Brett. I'd seen the Laurel and Hardy movie version, "March of the Toy Soldiers," when I was a kid and loved it, and never knew that it had been made into a book until recently. I recently bought the DVD of the movie, so now I'm all set to watch it again. I must have a copy of this book! Highly recommended for readers young and old!