Fiction Review of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

A. Bibliography:
     Steig, William. (1969). Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.  New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9781416902065

B. Plot Summary:
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a tale of a young donkey named Sylvester who enjoys collecting pebbles.  One rainy morning, he finds a shiny, red pebble.  Sylvester gets tired of the rain and casually wishes for it stop.  To his amazement, the rain immediately stops and the stormy clouds vanish.  Sylvester begins to suspect that maybe the red pebble was a factor in his wish coming true.  Therefore, he holds the red pebble in his hoof and wishes for the rain to come back.  The storm instantly comes back.  Sylvester is so excited to share the news with his friends and family.  But on the way home, he is stopped by a lion.  Sylvester panics and wishes to become a rock.  The problem with the lion is resolved, but now Sylvester has a bigger problem.  He can't hold the magic pebble and make a wish to be a donkey again.  Over the next few seasons, both Sylvester and his parents worry.  His parents seek help from the entire community to no avail.

When summer returns the next year, Sylvester's parents decide to go on a picnic to distract them from their worries.  They settle on the rock where Sylvester transformed earlier in the book.  The dad finds the pebble and puts it on the rock, thinking it would have made Sylvester happy.  As they eat, Sylvester wishes to be his real self again.  The rock transforms back into Sylvester instantly and the family reunites happily.

C. Critical Analysis:
While reading Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, I was brought back to my own childhood because Sylvester is able to go out in nature and explore without any worries.  I was drawn to the title of the book because it seemed to have a fantasy spin to it with the magical pebble.  This book follows a typical fiction plot with the rising action, conflict, falling action and resolution.  This tale emphasizes the importance of family and the theme of "Be Careful What you Wish For".  Toward the end of the book, the reader can pick up on the author's idea of mother's intuition.  The mother donkey states, "I have the strangest feeling that our dear Sylvester is still alive and not far away."  The use of advanced vocabulary for young children will bring up great discussions as teachers and parents read this story to children.  The one aspect of the book that could be a bit scary for children is the concept of parents worrying over their missing child.

William Steig's illustrations are simple and cartoonistic.  The pages covering the seasons changing are particularly striking.  This Caldecott winner is a book that stresses the importance of being with family and never giving up hope.

D. Review Excerpts:
**Horn Book states, "A remarkable atmosphere of childlike innocence pervades the book; beautiful pictures in full, natural color show daily and seasonal changes in the lush countryside and greatly extend the kindly humor and the warm, unself-conscious tenderness."
**SLJ states, "That strange little story of magic, loss, and recovery strikes a deep chord in the hearts and minds of children and parents everywhere."

E. Connections:
Students who enjoy keeping a collection of some type will like this book.  Sylvester and the Magic Pebble includes great vocabulary, such as ceased, aimlessly, embraces, gradually, fetlock, extraordinary, inquiring and gratified.  Teachers could do a vocabulary unit where students write their own fiction tale while incorporating these terms.  The story occurs over many seasons, so it can be related to science and the changes in the four seasons.