The Sixteen Hand Horse

The King Who Rained

by Fred Gwynne

Depicts a little girl's visual images of her parents' talking about such things as bells that peel, banking a fire, and a running nose.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Humor, Language, Childrens Classics

44 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Fred Gwynne was a well-known actor in addition to being a renowned children's author. Best known as Herman Munster from the sitcom The Munsters, Gwynne's books such as The King Who Rained and A Chocolate Moose for Dinner employed clever homonym wordplay for lighthearted humor that have delighted children for generations. Altogether, Gwynne published nine books over a long career.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Fred Gwynne's books. This one includes a self-drawing of him as one of the characters. If you've never read him, pick one up. You'll have it read in fewer than 5 minutes. One of the many "children's" books that adults may understand better than the children.

[*JEN the booknerd* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waaaaaaay back when I was in elementary school I had such a love for this book along with the other three books or so like this written by Fred Gwynne. (Who plays Herman Munster btw!) I would always go to the school library and check them out over and over again. I thought about them all of my life but couldn't even remember what they were called or who wrote them up until several years ago when I started working at the library and did some internet detective work and found them after years and years and years! Well, I was feeling nostalgic again last week and so I ordered them all from the library and will read one a day and travel in my time machine back to the 1970's.

[Laurie Connolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Hermann Munster wrote and illustrated books! Actually, the actor who played the Frankensteinian dad on the original TV show The Munsters did. Several of them, in fact.

I used to use this picture book in ESL classes to talk about idioms. Though it turns out most of my students weren't familiar with these particular expressions, the illustrations were often a fun jumping-off point for talking about figures of speech in their own languages and funny goof-ups in others.

(That said, the Amelia Bedelia books are my favorites for laughing at linguistic misunderstandings. Then again, it may be Amelia's cheerful un/intentional subversion of almost every domestic task she is assigned that takes the cake. So to speak.

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[C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably quite funny to 8-year-olds 40 years ago, but I think too many of the relevant terms have fallen out of common use to be appealing to the relevant crowd now. A pun isn't very funny when you have to explain both meanings....

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was disappointed that this 1980 book by the late, great Fred Gwynne wasn't specifically about the remarkable sixteen hand horse shown on the cover, I soon was won over by not only the incredible artwork, but the affectionate look at how stupid the English language can be at times.

If you don't quite get the jokes, try saying (or whispering) the joke out loud in order to catch the homophone.

This is for native speakers of English only ... unless you've been speaking and reading native English speakers for decades.

Anybody less than 50 years old may have go hit Google hard to figure out some of these (such as the church references.)

One bittersweet drawing was of a cute rabbit dog (looking like a bunny/hound hybrid) ... and it took me about 10 seconds to realize it was a joke on "rabid dog."

[Abigail Mayeske · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a better book for parents to show that children may not understand some figures of speech. But it is also good for children because you can introduce different figures of speech or words that have many meanings. You can ask if that's what the phrase really meant as you read the story and ask the children if they understand. I also think the illustrations are very colorful.

[Helen-Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious combination of wordplay matched to perfect illustrations, some showing how kids might misunderstand idiomatic phrases in English [the illustration for the book title shows a horse made of 16 hands], or perhaps understand them but still enjoy the incongruous mental images that the phrases trigger.

[Maria Salgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a silly book that shows how interesting the English language is. It shows how what we hear isn't always what the person meant. This book would help children, especially non native English speakers, learn about homonyms.

[Sarah G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across one of Gwynne’s other books in the library and it brought back a huge core memory! I loved these play-on books as a kid and I’m so happy to be reunited with them - and discover one I haven’t read before!

[Bonnie Pohlig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book, but I feel like it is probably more enjoyable for adults than for children. The book plays on words that have double meanings, such as a horse being 16 hands tall, and so the illustration shows a horse made of hands. Another example is bells pealing. However, it could be a good introduction to homonyms.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever sat in a "tear". Been to the opera and be "moved" by the orchestra. Been warned about "rabbit" dogs. This is a book by "Herman Munster" aka Fred Gwynne. It is a total play on words. I don't know if kids will get it but I loved it!! The cover isn't impressive but I couldn't get enough! HIGH LAR RE OUS!

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book about word play. It is a book full of idioms that talk about phrases and the illustrations are of the literal meaning rather than the figurative meaning. For example, My mom's nose is running and the book illustration is of a nose running away. This humorous book would be a fun read for any intermediate classroom.

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good title to use with lessons about how we use language and how phrases have a figurative and a literal meaning.

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG this was written by Herman Munster! If you like the old joke about "Is your refridgerator running?" this is the one for you.

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My seven year old granddaughter, who is bilingual, gets real joy out of Gwynne's language books.

[Linda (Miss Greedybooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Herman Minster... Who Knew?

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a funny book. My 4yo picked it out at the library and found it quite odd.

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be great to teach children about literally meaning verses metaphors. It is a silly book and enjoyable to read.

[Jillian Brickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for kids! Loved the images.