Skip to main content

Ol' Clip-Clop

By

Ol' Clip-Clop
by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Eric Velasquez
Holiday House, 2013. Unpaged. Picture Book


     "The year was 1741. The month was October. The day was Friday the thirteenth."  Thus begins Patricia McKissack's story of John Peel, a mean-spirited, dark-hearted landlord who was unusually happy on this day because he was going to put the Widow Mayes out of her house for owing back rent. As he rode down the cobblestones to her house, the clip-clop of his horse's hooves was echoed by someone following behind. When he stopped, the other noise stopped.  When he rode on, it began again. At the Widow Mayes' he is upset to discover she has the money to pay her rent, but he slips one of her coins into his boot so she will still come up short, then grudgingly gives her until the next morning to find the remaining money. As he started home again, he heard harsh laughter on the wind, and then the clippity-clopping begans in earnest. At home he quickly crawls into bed, happy to be safe . . . but he is never seen again. Maybe he moved away and changed his ways--or maybe . . . . The last page of this incremental and fairly frightening picture book is scary, indeed!  Maybe not the best choice for little, little readers, but a perfect chill for those tougher, older kids who always ask for something really scary. Eric Velasquez's dark and moody drawings are a perfect expression of this book's written word.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Faker

By
Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Frindle Files

By
  Frindle Files  By Andrew Clements  New York: Random House, 2024. Fiction. 198 pages.  In 1996 Andrew Clements wrote a story about a kid who invented the word “frindle” (another word for “pen.”)  The Frindle Files is the sequel that takes place many years later.  Josh is a student in Mr. N’s class. He and his friends can’t stand the fact that Mr. N makes them all write their homework down on paper with a “blue or black pen” and “neatness counts.” Josh is a computer geek and loves to do all his homework on the computer. In the midst of trying to find a way to make Mr. N accept the students' desire to do homework online, Josh comes across some information about Mr. N that links him to the word “frindle.” Now Josh and his best friend must decide what to do with the information and if they are willing to stand up to Mr. N’s antiquated way of doing homework.  Kids who love the original book will highly enjoy this new edition. It is a continuation to the story in that it shows what ha
Post a Comment
Read more

Five Faves: When Cultures Combine

By
None of us are just "one thing." All of us have several qualities that make us who we are and we have all had several people, and sometimes several cultures, influence who we've become. For some people, these differences are so significant that it can feel like they come from two different worlds. These books are all about celebrating what it's like to come from multiple cultures and claiming the many facets of what makes you "you!" Two New Years Written by Richard Ho Illustrated by Lynn Scurfield San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2023. Picture Book. This multicultural family gets to celebrate the New Year multiple times. They celebrate Rosh Hashana in the fall and the Lunar New Year in the spring. The similarities and differences are explored in this picture book by showing Rosh Hashana and Lunar New Year's traditions on separate pages sometimes and at other times showing customs from both holidays nestled together. Reflecting the author's cultural an
Post a Comment
Read more