From Amazon
If you've already plumbed the depths of the sea by the time you're eight, there's nothing left but to climb the world's tallest mountain. So figures Peg, the feisty heroine of a delightfully outrageous tall tale by award-winning children's fantasy writer Kenneth Oppel (author of Airborn and the Silverwing trilogy). A follow-up to Oppel's equally whimsical picture book Peg and the Whale, Peg and the Yeti describes the incredible journey of this pint-sized adventurer to the top of Mount Everest and back. With typical bravado, Peg brings nothing in the way of climbing gear except a fishing rod, her wool mitts, and a supply of pork scruncheons. The scruncheons come in handy, however, when she meets the dreaded Yeti, for it turns out that the Yeti's legendary bad temper can be traced directly to a shortage of delicious snack food. Together, Peg and her abominable snow companion scale Everest's peak and drift comfortably down the mountainside in a hot air balloon created from Peg's tent and a hollowed-out block of ice. Her parents, waiting below on their fishing boat, are amusingly blasé about the woolly new addition to the family. "'I see you've brought the Yeti with you,' her mother said. 'He likes the scruncheons,' Peg explained. 'Very good then,' said her father." Featuring the Plasticine art of celebrated Canadian illustrator Barbara Reid, Peg and the Yeti is a fun-filled romp for four- to six-year-olds in the can-do spirit of Pippi Longstocking. --Lisa Alward
Review
Peg is the child of fisher-folk, and by eight years of age, an expert at fishing herself. A girl with ambition, who wants, “big, better, and best,” she decides it’s time to reach for new heights, and sets out to climb Mount Everest. Peg can do anything she puts her mind to, and before long, she is half-way up the mountain, undaunted by the precipices, chasms, and powerful winds. She finds a cave to spend the night. In the cave sleeps a giant, fierce Yeti who becomes furious when wakened by the plucky little girl. Pork scruncheons from Peg’s food supply bag soon soften the bad-tempered Yeti, and he attaches himself to Peg as she continues her climb to the top of the mountain.
Oppel’s text is nicely written but the plot meanders, and while the heroine is ambitious, fearless and resourceful, she lacks depth. The book is obviously meant to show girls they shouldn’t hesitate to pusue their goals. That’s great, but a character becomes one-dimensional when there’s no limit at all to the things she can do.
Barbara Reid has won many awards for her plasticine illustrations. This book was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Children’s book illustration, and it’s plain to see why. Reid’s fanciful creations are a treat to behold. The diverse settings, objects, and characters in Reid’s relief renderings are vivid with colour, texture, and often subtle facial expression. Reid’s attentiveness to detail enables the reader to see the harsh, snow-whipping wind and the glow from the sun. So convincing is the art, it’s hard to believe sometimes that every tiny part of her canvases was moulded. And always enlivening and adding charm to Reid’s work is her bountiful sense of humour.
Olga Stein (Books in Canada)
-- Books in Canada
Oppel’s text is nicely written but the plot meanders, and while the heroine is ambitious, fearless and resourceful, she lacks depth. The book is obviously meant to show girls they shouldn’t hesitate to pusue their goals. That’s great, but a character becomes one-dimensional when there’s no limit at all to the things she can do.
Barbara Reid has won many awards for her plasticine illustrations. This book was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Children’s book illustration, and it’s plain to see why. Reid’s fanciful creations are a treat to behold. The diverse settings, objects, and characters in Reid’s relief renderings are vivid with colour, texture, and often subtle facial expression. Reid’s attentiveness to detail enables the reader to see the harsh, snow-whipping wind and the glow from the sun. So convincing is the art, it’s hard to believe sometimes that every tiny part of her canvases was moulded. And always enlivening and adding charm to Reid’s work is her bountiful sense of humour.
Olga Stein (Books in Canada)
-- Books in Canada
Book Description
PEG, WHO WAS BORN on the bright blue sea, figures she’s spent enough time sloshing around the bottom of the world. She’s determined to climb the world’s tallest mountain, because, as she’s heard, the view is quite something. Despite the warnings of other climbers —“You’ve got no gear!” “There’s wind storms!” “They say there’s a monster up there: the Yeti!”—Peg continues to climb.
Several close encounters with a grumpy Yeti don’t discourage Peg one bit, especially when she finds the Yeti has a yen for her tasty pork scruncheons. Now Peg wants to get onto the summit, but the Yeti won’t go away.
Mega-selling children’s lit stars Kenneth Oppel and Barbara Reid have teamed up to create a rollicking tall tale, where a feisty heroine never misses a beat in her quest to climb a mountain and make a friend. An outrageous story that kids will love, plus vibrant Plasticine illustrations, add up to a surefire hit!
About the Author
KENNETH OPPEL is thebestselling author of Airborn, which won the Governor General’s Awardand was recently named a Michael L. Printz Honor Book in the US. His SilverwingSaga—Silverwing, Sunwing and Firewing—has sold over a millioncopies worldwide and has won numerous awards, including the Mr. Christie’sBook Award and the CLA Book of the Year for Children Award. Kenneth Oppel livesin Toronto with his wife and their two children.
