- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Dover Publications; New edition edition (Feb 29 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 048621446X
- ISBN-13: 978-0486214467
- Product Dimensions: 23.3 x 15.4 x 1.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 562 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,016,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
This collection contains one tale for each hour including "Master Clock: How Boots Befooled the King," "The Three Little Pigs and the Ogre," and others. A large measure of Pyle's amazing success with youngsters is his genius as an illustrator and this book includes some of his most unforgettable drawings. 148 illustrations.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
remarkable nineteenth century children's fables,
By
This review is from: Wonder Clock (Hardcover)
The narrator of the twenty-four stories (plus an introduction) finds a special clock in Father Time's attic, which strikes on the hour with songs and puppet dances. "Four and twenty marvelous tales, one for each hour of the day" all start with a verse to coincide with that particular hour. Drawings are included to add further depth. Each ends with a morality lesson, which never interferes with the story, but helps wrap up that entry.This nineteenth century collection is remarkable in different ways depending on the reader. The tales provide insight into daily household life and the morality of a bygone era. The contributions also furbish delightful fairy tales for the young at heart that are enhanced by superb figures of speech and tremendous illustrations with a finale moral lesson. This collection is a winner and will send many a reader searching for other works by Howard Pyle. Harriet Klausner
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece of storytelling and illustration:,
By lindyjulie (Evanston, IL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Wonder Clock or, Four and Twenty Marvelous Tales (Paperback)
This book has been in my family for four generations, the 1912 edition having been given to my father by his grandmother in 1948. The premise of the story is given in the introduction; the narrator happens upon a marvelous clock in Father Time's attic, which strikes the hour with songs and puppet dances. Twenty-four stories follow, one for each hour of the day. Each story begins with a verse that corresponds to the hour of the day: lighting the fire, preparing breakfast, sending the children to school, making the noonday meal, milking, tea, bedtime. The verses alone are fascinating, as they bring to life the househould routines of a very different era. The stories are illustrated with Howard Pyle's remarkable drawings. Each tale has a frontispiece for the title, and the beginning of the text and each picture caption is heralded with a large ornmental letter like those in illuminated manuscripts. The illustrations are gorgeous. Pyle was fond of capturing scenes of nobility and royal splendour, pastoral life, and witchcraft. Some are stylized portraits of princesses in exquisite gowns and classic poses, while others demonstrate Pyle's gift for caricature and expression. The stories themselves are wonderful, full of heroes and heroines, bravery, beauty, wits and trickery. Although there are allusions to mystic and Christian themes, and to folklore and fables, most of the stories will be unfamiliar and fresh to modern readers. The langauge is rich with metaphor, droll imagery, and dialogue that is made to be read aloud. As with Aesop's fables, the stories are meant to instruct, but the morals take a back seat to the storytelling, at least until the conclusion of each tale, and a great deal is left up to the reader to interpret. This was my favorite book as a child, and I still turn to it on sleepless nights. But our beloved family heirloom is growing very delicate, so I am very glad that the book is still in print. I hope to share it with my own children someday.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews) 28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A four generation read aloud treat,
By G. Becker - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wonder Clock (Hardcover)
My father heard these stories as a child. He read them to me. I read them to my kids and my grandkids. The vocabulary, the cadences, the varied plots and the sheer magic of these tales is timeless. The poems at the beginning of each chapter are related to the hours. Kids insist that you read them too. Pyle always sees to it that bullies, evil magicians, cheaters and older nasty siblings get their comeuppance. Little ones enjoy that aspect. Great archaic words are dusted off along with long disused similies and metaphores. It's the kind of book that comes to mind when you meet a bright eyed new child who has read everything else or seen everything else. At age 70 I still keep a copy in my bed's head board. Rap, tap, tap he knocked at the door.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A bedtime favorite to 3 generations of Leadley boys,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Wonder Clock or, Four and Twenty Marvelous Tales (Paperback)
The Wonder Clock book has been a favorite source of bedtime stories for three generations of Leadley boys (my father, myself and and my son). It is best read (and read and read ...) from ages 7 to 10. The book contains 24 separate faux fairy tales that are just the right length for a 15 minute bedtime story. The short stories are bound together by a metastory of the "wonder clock" that whisks the narrator off to observe and recount the other 24 tales. Each story is preceded by a short, illuminated poem, starts with a scrollwork capital and contains at least two wonderfully ornate illustrations. DO NOT buy a copy of this book which doesn't contain the original illustrations! They are part of the "wonder" for young readers. The stories are set in the Middle Ages somewhere in northern Europe (¿Belgium, Holland or southern Germany?) and feature lots of minor kings, princes, princesses, woodcutters, swineherds, ruffians, rogues and magical creatures.Caveats: 1) Although the Wonder Clock book can be read alone by precocious readers as early as second grade, I would recommend a joint reading the first time through with asides on morality. It is my belief that the actions in stories that feature villians being dragged to death behind wild horses, beatings, blindings, whippings, etc. need to be given moral context when a young child is first exposed to them. 2) I'm not sure whether this book would have as powerful an appeal to girls. Among us, my grandfather, my father and I have only raised one girl out of ten children (my aunt) and don't have much experience to offer. Upon reading the book again from an adult prospective, I've found the female protagonists (the wise queen, the wise princess, the magical Swan Maiden, etc.) curiously passive. Even Princess Golden Hair, who treks to the end of the earth in search of her beloved husband banished by magic, seems unassertive. Conclusion: Kids, especially boys, love it. Don't feed it to them unadulterated :-). 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book to read aloud to kids at bedtime.,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Wonder Clock or, Four and Twenty Marvelous Tales (Paperback)
I agree with everything Scott Leadley said, with the additional comments that 1) my daughter, now 10, has always loved these stories as much as my son, in spite of the lack of active female characters (at least on the side of Good); 2) Pyle, like Kipling, understood how to write a story that would be read aloud to children. The paragraphs are short, the vocabulary pointed, and something interesting happens two or three times a page; 3) as Pyle admits in the introduction, the elements of the stories are extracted and mixed from classic fairy stories; for example, in one story the hero kills a dragon by digging a pit, waiting until the dragon crawls over him, and stabbing it in the belly, an obvious borrow from the event in the 'Volsunga Saga' in which the hero Sigurd kills Fafnir the dragon. If you know the older stories you'll enjoy spotting Pyle's sources.
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