Newbery Medal (John Newbery Medal)
The Animal Family: A Newbery Honor Award Winner
A man living in a house by the sea is joined by a mermaid, a bear, a lynx, and finally a boy, and together they form an impossible family. Set in a world filled with the presence of nature, it is a story about creatures from different lives learning to live with one another.
Work Information
A story about an impossible family that somehow feels completely true.
One of Randall Jarrell’s best-known children’s books, it follows the shared life of people and animals gathered in a house by the sea, told in prose with the cadence of poetry. Maurice Sendak’s illustrations deepen the work’s sense of fantasy.
Review Summaries
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Its lyrical prose and the warmth of its strange, lovable family are widely praised. Some readers find the dreamlike structure disorienting, but the story leaves a lasting impression.
Book Information
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- 1996-10-25
- Pages
- 192 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 16.81 x 13.39 x 1.7 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780062059048
- ISBN-10
- 0062059041
- Price
- 28170 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Children's Books/Animals/Bears
This is the story of how, one by one, a man found himself a family. Almost nowhere in fiction is there a stranger, dearer, or funnier family -- and the life that the members of The Animal Family live together, there in the wilderness beside the sea, is as extraordinary and as enchanting as the family itself.
Randall Jarrell (1914–65) received the National Book Award for his book of poems The Woman at the Washington Zoo. His children's book The Animal Family was named a Newbery Honor Book, and his translation of The Three Sisters was produced by the Actors Studio Theatre. Maurice Sendak’s books have sold over 50 million copies and have been translated into more than 40 languages. He received the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are and is the creator of such classics as In the Night Kitchen , Outside Over There , Higglety Pigglety Pop! , and Nutshell Library . In 1970 he received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, in 1983 he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, and in 1996 he received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America. In 2003 Sendak received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an annual international prize for children’s literature established by the Swedish government.
Reviews
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Out of print so pleased with price paid
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This book was read to me as a child and into adulthood I've made a practice of giving it as a gift to people I love (and their children).. Jarrell's prose is beautiful, the late Maurice Sendak's "decorations" are works of art. I would say that the story reads like a fairy tale except that it has both a contemporary feel and the qualities of old folk tales. A hunter meets a mermaid, a bear, a bobcat and a child. The bonds between them are lasting and beautiful. Jarrell was a poet. A large portion of his work addressed WWII and is remarkable. It should be read along with narratives of the Vietnam War.
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Amazing book. Poetic. Memorable.
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Beautifully written. A great "read aloud" for kindergartners through 3rd grade. There are a few moments that are sad and open up conversations about death but it is not intense or maudlin, just matter-of-fact. The physical book is amazing. Sendak's drawings are beautiful, the cover is lovely, and the paper is extraordinary. Even the print and the way each page is "framed" with empty space highlighting the words of the story is beautiful. This is a book that should be given as a gift to a special adult or child. I highly recommend this book.
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This story by Jarrell is gentle, mythical, and stands the test of time. A short story about a solitary hunter on an island, who meets a mermaid, and together form a family with animals they meet. The tone is warm and soft, kind and at times bittersweet. While perfect for bedtime, cold or rainy days, this book is appealing to me even as i grow older. The subtle lessons about companionship, newness, differences, loneliness, loss, and joy are not forced to the fore. Rather, an old-fashioned sense of creating an environment as a way to tell a story is key here. Inviting wilderness, homely relationships, and just enough magic and mystery to compel the story forward. One of my most treasured books since i was a young child, the is a timeless and infinitely re-readable story.