Bill Peet is one of those wise and subtle storytellers who knows how to awaken kind feelings in a reader in a cheerful and unobtrusive way. Bill Peet endows every character with a vivid personality, expressive facial features, and a distinct energy, making the heroes on the pages of his books seem to come alive as if in an actual cartoon.
The collection includes three fairy tales:
“The Spunky Little Squeaker”
“Eli”
“Big Bad Bertie”.
The Great Hunt was approaching — that is what the forest inhabitants called hunting. The Animal Council gathered in the ravine by the Twisted Pine. Everyone hoped that some clever soul would come up with a brilliant escape plan. But that didn't happen, and the animals decided that each one would have to outrun the hunter's bullet on their own, as best they could. And for some of them, the next day could very well have been their last, had it not been for a brave little mosquito named Spunky Squeaker, whom no one had wanted to listen to at first... In the dedication to this book, Bill Peet wrote: “To my little friends who love playing war. I hope that when you grow up, you will lose interest in this activity. Because real weapons with real bullets kill for real.”
In the distant land of Ngumbazania lived a lion named Eli. For a long time, he was the terror of the savanna, and the best portions always went to him. But years took their toll; the lion grew old and now had to settle for scraps in the company of vultures. The noisy, messy scavengers irritated Eli terribly. He could never have imagined that one day he would call them his friends.
A happy childhood ended when Edwin the rabbit started growing by leaps and bounds. His home burrow became too small for him, and his parents, shedding tears, sent their beloved son off to the dense forest, where only such a giant could hide. But even there, Edwin found no refuge, barely escaping from owls, foxes, and ferrets. He also turned out to be a coveted prize for the farmers, who chased the giant rabbit through the fields until winter. But, as you know, the world is not without kind people. One farmer, into whose barn the unfortunate Edwin had snuck to get warm, took the poor thing in. And in the spring, he came up with a job for him that made Edwin famous throughout the entire region.
Author: Bill Peet
Translation: Roza Lipshits, Natalia Smirnova, Yulia Fokina
Pages: 144 (offset). Hardcover
Dimensions: 284×216 mm
