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Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
One rainy day, Sylvester finds a magic pebble that can make wishes come true. But when a lion frightens him on his way home, Sylvester makes a wish that brings unexpected results.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
William Steig
131 books391 followersWilliam Steig was born in New York City in 1907. In a family where every member was involved in the arts, it was not surprising that Steig became an artist.
He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.
Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...
He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.
Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,720 reviews
March 13, 2019
I remember reading this as a kid as I was reading this to my niece and nephew. I didn’t remember reading it by title alone, but when the donkey was turned into a stone, I remember that feeling of helplessness I felt and that this story would be terrible. I didn’t think there was a way out. I remember those old feelings the story made me feel. I think this was read to me. I love it when that happens. I hope it happens more and more as I get into the newer books or books of the 70s and 80s that would have been read to me. I also have a distinct memory of that red pebble sitting just a few inches from the rock. Memory can be so strange.
This is a great story. It’s a classic. It still connects to young readers on a deeper level. The kids were engrossed in this story. No one could figure out how the donkey would get back to being a donkey.
When the donkey was making a wish, the nephew and niece talked about what they would do instead of wishing to be a rock. The nephew, no surprise, said he would wish he was big Frankenstein and he would scare the lion away. The niece would have turned the lion into a unicorn and let her ride him back to town. They came up with other fun and interesting ideas before we went on with the story. neither of them could figure out how Sylvester would become himself again until they saw the sad parents going on a picnic and then they both knew what would happen.
Lovely artwork here, amazing story that really packs an emotional punch. The nephew gave this 5 stars and the niece gave this 4 stars.
This is a great story. It’s a classic. It still connects to young readers on a deeper level. The kids were engrossed in this story. No one could figure out how the donkey would get back to being a donkey.
When the donkey was making a wish, the nephew and niece talked about what they would do instead of wishing to be a rock. The nephew, no surprise, said he would wish he was big Frankenstein and he would scare the lion away. The niece would have turned the lion into a unicorn and let her ride him back to town. They came up with other fun and interesting ideas before we went on with the story. neither of them could figure out how Sylvester would become himself again until they saw the sad parents going on a picnic and then they both knew what would happen.
Lovely artwork here, amazing story that really packs an emotional punch. The nephew gave this 5 stars and the niece gave this 4 stars.
May 28, 2008
When I was five years old in 1974, I read a childrens book review and noticed a nice review for this book. I also liked the fact that there was a gold medallion on the top right corner, which signified that it was the Caldecott award winner for 1970. I didn't know exactly what that meant at the time, but I did know at that age that if you were awarded something gold that it meant it was really good.
I asked my parents if I could order it through my kindergarten class book club, but they declined at the time. Undaunted, I went to several neighbors in my apartment in Los Angeles and asked for spare change so I could order this book. After panhanding the third floor, I had enough money to order it. When it arrived I was really excited and read it everyday. Finally my dad noticed and found out what I did, but I didn't get in trouble. He just asked me not to ask for help from others, just to go to him and he would make a deal with me, such as mowing the lawn, waxing the cars, or other chores, to earn what I wanted, within reason.
Now to the book...I found the story very interesting in that among his initial wishes, among them was things for his parents, which I found very thoughtful. I also related to his panic when faced with something fearsome, and panicking into a rash decision at the time (to turn himself into a stone.) I was really depressed during the middle part of the book when Sylvester's parents were searching in vain for him, and the help his neighbors offered. I enjoyed seeing various animals portrayed in this book with beautiful illustrations by William Steig, who I later learned wrote "Shrek!"
I was somewhat disturbed to learn(as an adult) that the portrayal of the police as pigs caused to book to be banned in certain parts of the country. As a five year old I thought the pigs were helpful in their search for the missing Sylvester.
The illustration for the ending showed great joy of the family being reunited, and for some reason it always reminds me of my parents and myself. At that age, there is not enough life experiences to be able to compare anything else, so I was glad to find something that did.
To summarize, I enjoyed the story from beginning to end, as it was an emotional roller coaster for me at that age. Part of it had to do with my empathy with Sylvester,and because his parents reminded me of my mom and dad. It was also to first book that I bought by my own choice, and I'll always remember it fondly.
I asked my parents if I could order it through my kindergarten class book club, but they declined at the time. Undaunted, I went to several neighbors in my apartment in Los Angeles and asked for spare change so I could order this book. After panhanding the third floor, I had enough money to order it. When it arrived I was really excited and read it everyday. Finally my dad noticed and found out what I did, but I didn't get in trouble. He just asked me not to ask for help from others, just to go to him and he would make a deal with me, such as mowing the lawn, waxing the cars, or other chores, to earn what I wanted, within reason.
Now to the book...I found the story very interesting in that among his initial wishes, among them was things for his parents, which I found very thoughtful. I also related to his panic when faced with something fearsome, and panicking into a rash decision at the time (to turn himself into a stone.) I was really depressed during the middle part of the book when Sylvester's parents were searching in vain for him, and the help his neighbors offered. I enjoyed seeing various animals portrayed in this book with beautiful illustrations by William Steig, who I later learned wrote "Shrek!"
I was somewhat disturbed to learn(as an adult) that the portrayal of the police as pigs caused to book to be banned in certain parts of the country. As a five year old I thought the pigs were helpful in their search for the missing Sylvester.
The illustration for the ending showed great joy of the family being reunited, and for some reason it always reminds me of my parents and myself. At that age, there is not enough life experiences to be able to compare anything else, so I was glad to find something that did.
To summarize, I enjoyed the story from beginning to end, as it was an emotional roller coaster for me at that age. Part of it had to do with my empathy with Sylvester,and because his parents reminded me of my mom and dad. It was also to first book that I bought by my own choice, and I'll always remember it fondly.
December 1, 2022
This is a picture book classic that stands the test of time. Why? Because parents and children know how rare and precious the bond is between them. This book takes us all from incredulous joy to depths of despair and back again. Sylvester has big plans for this magic pebble he has found. Then the unthinkable happens and he is trapped as a rock. Will he ever be reunited with his dear parents again?
Love the ending and reminder that Sylvester is their most valued treasure.
Love the ending and reminder that Sylvester is their most valued treasure.
December 31, 2020
My first taste of existential angst did not occur during the tumultuous years of my adolescence. The horrifying awareness of being alone in a vast and indifferent universe, that nihilistic nightmare which descends upon one like a dark bird of prey, did not catch me by surprise during my college years. It should have, but it didn’t.
It should have occurred after reading Sartre and Camus, when I was old enough to drink café au lait and smoke long cigarettes and don a black beret. It should have waited until I half understood Existentialism, when I was educated and pretentious enough to expound upon en-soi and pour-soi with my bad French and air of tragic ennui. It should have, but it didn’t.
Instead my Cartesian crisis, my desperate need to prove my existence, define it, ground it in reality, assuage my ontological insecurity by shouting cogito ergo sum to the world, occurred when I was seven years old.
The book responsible for my sudden and traumatic awakening was not a work of philosophy. I was, after all, only seven years old. It was a little book by William Steig, a book called Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, a book filled with colorful illustrations of talking animals, a book for children aged four to eight. I still shudder at the thought of it.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is about a young donkey named Sylvester Duncan. One rainy day Sylvester discovered a shiny red pebble that had the power to grant wishes. On his way home with the pebble he encountered a lion. He panicked, and in that moment of fear and confusion he wished he were a rock. Of course, once the danger passed Sylvester had no way to pick up the magic pebble and wish he were himself again. He was literally petrified. He was a rock.
The horror of Sylvester’s predicament was not lost on me. Even though he was physically a rock, he was fully conscious. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t see. Yet his mind was unimpaired. His sense of himself was intact.
If Sylvester’s self-awareness had not survived his transformation into a rock, then one could simply say that Sylvester had ceased to be Sylvester, that he was, in fact, dead. This would be merely unfortunate. However, Sylvester did retain his self-awareness and that is what makes his fate so appalling.
I imagined Sylvester wanting to shout, to declare his existence, to scream “I am here.” I felt his terror and despair. Here was Sylvester, but no one knew it. And that was only the beginning. What would happen to a mind trapped in an inanimate object, a mind left entirely to itself, without any stimuli from the outside world? Steig’s answer is merciful: It would sleep.
“Night followed day and day followed night over and over again. Sylvester on the hill woke up less and less often. When he was awake, he was only hopeless and unhappy. He felt he would be a rock forever and he tried to get used to it. He went into an endless sleep.”
Sylvester spent a year in this comatose state, but it was not the sleeping that disturbed me. It was the thought of his occasional waking up that chilled me to the bone. Sylvester thought he would be a rock forever and he very nearly was. It would have been a ghastly immortality, a grotesque and ironic parody of the human desire for eternal life. Of course he wouldn’t really live forever. He would only last as long as a rock lasts, but how long does a rock last?
My seven year old imagination could not bear to contemplate the number of years, of centuries, of millennia, it takes for a rock to erode, the millions of years it would take for Sylvester to be freed from this wretched existence. And what would the passage of time mean to Sylvester?
Life would go on all round him: Night would follow day, winter would follow autumn, year would follow year. Everything would change, everything except Sylvester. He alone would remain the same. Would the eons of boredom and isolation produce some type of solipsistic madness, some private hell created by a mind condemned to cannibalizing itself?
At the end of the story, through a series of highly improbable coincidences, Sylvester was restored to equine form, but my peace of mind was not so easily restored. Instead of rejoicing along with the reunited Duncan family, I was troubled by metaphysical conundrums which were all the more tormenting because I could not verbalize them. I did not have the theoretical framework or the vocabulary to express such abstract thoughts, so my ontological insecurity remained a vague yet intensely disquieting feeling.
Rereading Sylvester and the Magic Pebble now, I can better understand Sylvester’s panic-stricken cry: “I wish I were a rock.” Sartre would call it bad faith, the attempt of being-for-itself (pour-soi) to become being-in-itself (en-soi), to escape the burdensome freedom and responsibility of creating a meaningful life in an otherwise meaningless universe.
Sylvester, as a conscious and self-aware donkey, is being-for-itself. His life, like the lives of all conscious and self-aware beings, is fraught with hungry lions, with rainy days, with difficult decisions and choices. Uncertainty and anxiety are his lot.
Sylvester is not unique in his attempt to become a thing. However, being-for-itself can never become being-in-itself. It is impossible. Sylvester learned this the hard way. He tried to become a thing, a rock, yet he remained self-aware. Bad faith is an act of self-deception. It is pretending to be a thing. It is going through life asleep. The crisis comes when one suddenly wakes up.
There is an alternative to living in bad faith and that is living in revolt. To live in revolt one must first become aware of the absurdity of life. One must then abandon hope, for hope is merely another form of escape, another act of bad faith. This hopelessness is not the hopelessness of despair, as Sylvester’s was. It is the conscious acceptance of absurdity.
The opposite of Sylvester is Sisyphus. Camus calls Sisyphus the absurd hero because he suffers without hope, without despair, and with full awareness of the futility of his endless labor. Sisyphus knows he will never succeed. He knows the rock he struggles to push up the mountain will roll back down every time. It is his awareness of his fate which is his punishment, his own private hell, but it is also his triumph over that fate. Sisyphus never ceases to be Sisyphus. He never wishes to change places with his rock.
When Sylvester finally woke up he wished he were himself again. Sylvester was lucky. Some people never wake up. Some people never become themselves again. The desire to be a rock is hard to overcome, yet life as a rock is an ontological nightmare. As a child, I knew this intuitively. But the vicissitudes of life, the lions and inescapable choices and rainy days, can wear away at one’s sense of self.
There are moments of panic when it seems better to be a rock and I have had my share of panic. I am no stranger to bad faith. I have also woken up, like Sylvester, and wanted to be myself again, wanted to accept the absurdity of life and the burdensome freedom that is the torture and the triumph of being-for-itself.
But I am no Sisyphus yet. And this is no storybook ending. Sometimes I still hope and sometimes I despair, yet when push comes to shove, I would rather be an ass than a rock.
It should have occurred after reading Sartre and Camus, when I was old enough to drink café au lait and smoke long cigarettes and don a black beret. It should have waited until I half understood Existentialism, when I was educated and pretentious enough to expound upon en-soi and pour-soi with my bad French and air of tragic ennui. It should have, but it didn’t.
Instead my Cartesian crisis, my desperate need to prove my existence, define it, ground it in reality, assuage my ontological insecurity by shouting cogito ergo sum to the world, occurred when I was seven years old.
The book responsible for my sudden and traumatic awakening was not a work of philosophy. I was, after all, only seven years old. It was a little book by William Steig, a book called Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, a book filled with colorful illustrations of talking animals, a book for children aged four to eight. I still shudder at the thought of it.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is about a young donkey named Sylvester Duncan. One rainy day Sylvester discovered a shiny red pebble that had the power to grant wishes. On his way home with the pebble he encountered a lion. He panicked, and in that moment of fear and confusion he wished he were a rock. Of course, once the danger passed Sylvester had no way to pick up the magic pebble and wish he were himself again. He was literally petrified. He was a rock.
The horror of Sylvester’s predicament was not lost on me. Even though he was physically a rock, he was fully conscious. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t see. Yet his mind was unimpaired. His sense of himself was intact.
If Sylvester’s self-awareness had not survived his transformation into a rock, then one could simply say that Sylvester had ceased to be Sylvester, that he was, in fact, dead. This would be merely unfortunate. However, Sylvester did retain his self-awareness and that is what makes his fate so appalling.
I imagined Sylvester wanting to shout, to declare his existence, to scream “I am here.” I felt his terror and despair. Here was Sylvester, but no one knew it. And that was only the beginning. What would happen to a mind trapped in an inanimate object, a mind left entirely to itself, without any stimuli from the outside world? Steig’s answer is merciful: It would sleep.
“Night followed day and day followed night over and over again. Sylvester on the hill woke up less and less often. When he was awake, he was only hopeless and unhappy. He felt he would be a rock forever and he tried to get used to it. He went into an endless sleep.”
Sylvester spent a year in this comatose state, but it was not the sleeping that disturbed me. It was the thought of his occasional waking up that chilled me to the bone. Sylvester thought he would be a rock forever and he very nearly was. It would have been a ghastly immortality, a grotesque and ironic parody of the human desire for eternal life. Of course he wouldn’t really live forever. He would only last as long as a rock lasts, but how long does a rock last?
My seven year old imagination could not bear to contemplate the number of years, of centuries, of millennia, it takes for a rock to erode, the millions of years it would take for Sylvester to be freed from this wretched existence. And what would the passage of time mean to Sylvester?
Life would go on all round him: Night would follow day, winter would follow autumn, year would follow year. Everything would change, everything except Sylvester. He alone would remain the same. Would the eons of boredom and isolation produce some type of solipsistic madness, some private hell created by a mind condemned to cannibalizing itself?
At the end of the story, through a series of highly improbable coincidences, Sylvester was restored to equine form, but my peace of mind was not so easily restored. Instead of rejoicing along with the reunited Duncan family, I was troubled by metaphysical conundrums which were all the more tormenting because I could not verbalize them. I did not have the theoretical framework or the vocabulary to express such abstract thoughts, so my ontological insecurity remained a vague yet intensely disquieting feeling.
Rereading Sylvester and the Magic Pebble now, I can better understand Sylvester’s panic-stricken cry: “I wish I were a rock.” Sartre would call it bad faith, the attempt of being-for-itself (pour-soi) to become being-in-itself (en-soi), to escape the burdensome freedom and responsibility of creating a meaningful life in an otherwise meaningless universe.
Sylvester, as a conscious and self-aware donkey, is being-for-itself. His life, like the lives of all conscious and self-aware beings, is fraught with hungry lions, with rainy days, with difficult decisions and choices. Uncertainty and anxiety are his lot.
Sylvester is not unique in his attempt to become a thing. However, being-for-itself can never become being-in-itself. It is impossible. Sylvester learned this the hard way. He tried to become a thing, a rock, yet he remained self-aware. Bad faith is an act of self-deception. It is pretending to be a thing. It is going through life asleep. The crisis comes when one suddenly wakes up.
There is an alternative to living in bad faith and that is living in revolt. To live in revolt one must first become aware of the absurdity of life. One must then abandon hope, for hope is merely another form of escape, another act of bad faith. This hopelessness is not the hopelessness of despair, as Sylvester’s was. It is the conscious acceptance of absurdity.
The opposite of Sylvester is Sisyphus. Camus calls Sisyphus the absurd hero because he suffers without hope, without despair, and with full awareness of the futility of his endless labor. Sisyphus knows he will never succeed. He knows the rock he struggles to push up the mountain will roll back down every time. It is his awareness of his fate which is his punishment, his own private hell, but it is also his triumph over that fate. Sisyphus never ceases to be Sisyphus. He never wishes to change places with his rock.
When Sylvester finally woke up he wished he were himself again. Sylvester was lucky. Some people never wake up. Some people never become themselves again. The desire to be a rock is hard to overcome, yet life as a rock is an ontological nightmare. As a child, I knew this intuitively. But the vicissitudes of life, the lions and inescapable choices and rainy days, can wear away at one’s sense of self.
There are moments of panic when it seems better to be a rock and I have had my share of panic. I am no stranger to bad faith. I have also woken up, like Sylvester, and wanted to be myself again, wanted to accept the absurdity of life and the burdensome freedom that is the torture and the triumph of being-for-itself.
But I am no Sisyphus yet. And this is no storybook ending. Sometimes I still hope and sometimes I despair, yet when push comes to shove, I would rather be an ass than a rock.
March 26, 2017
“Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” is one of William Steig’s earlier books and has proven to be the most emotional and heartwarming of all of his books. Also, this was William Steig’s first controversial book due to the image of the police being portrayed as pigs, even though I do not think that it is an issue because all the characters are animals, but it depends on how you view this issue. Anyway, William Steig’s dramatic storyline and illustrations has won this book a Caldecott Book Award and will surely be a treat to read.
William Steig has done an excellent job at beautifully detailing a young donkey’s attempts to change back to normal after a wish goes awry. Both children and adults will feel for Sylvester’s great sadness at not being able to tell his parents that he is still alive and his parents’ misery as they thought that their darling son was dead. William Steig’s illustrations are beautiful and detailed as he vividly draws the sad and happy emotions on Sylvester’s parents’ faces when they worried about their son, Sylvester. Also, the illustrations of the flowers and the trees and even the snow during the winter scene are memorizing as they provide a calm background the images.
***Small Rant:***
Alright, so everyone who has been browsing through various banned books knows that the reason why this book was banned was because of the image of the policemen being portrayed as pigs. First of all, I have an issue with this book being banned because of that reason. I mean, this is a book about TALKING ANIMALS, so what is wrong with the police being portrayed as pigs in a book about talking animals? Also, the main character is a DONKEY! So, that means that if the characters were switched and the main character was a pig and the policemen were donkeys, would that still be an issue? There were a couple of banned books where I do not agree with the reasons of it being banned (although, I never agree with any book being banned), but this was one of those books where I think the reason for it being banned was COMPLETELY unjustified.
***Rant Ended***
Also, the scenes where Sylvester's parents worry about Sylvester's whereabouts might worry smaller children who might worry about whether or not Sylvester will ever transform back into himself again. Parents should reassure their children about the importance of staying safe if they wonder out into an unknown area.
“Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” is William Steig’s milestone children’s book as it discusses the love that Mr. and Mrs. Duncan have for their child, Sylvester, when he turns up missing and This book will be a cult favorite for both children and adults and is suitable for children ages five and up, even though it discusses the loss of a child.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
March 16, 2019
Although I appreciate William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and find the accompanying illustrations (for which Steig more than deservedly won the Caldecott Medal) evocatively sweet and expressive, both complimenting and actually also often even rather expanding on the narrative (the printed words), I also cannot say that Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a story I could on a personal and also on an emotional level ever truly love. I have never been all that much into anthropomorphic animal characters (even cute and lovable donkeys like Sylvester and his family), and furthermore, while as an adult I can wholly understand the morale and messages behind Sylvester's sojourn as a rock, namely that one should be careful for what one wishes, the fact that Sylvester simply disappears, that even the police are dumbfounded and his poor mother and father, of course, both horrified and devastated, would have quite majorly troubled me, would have much hurt my psyche as a child (and even as an adult, Sylvester's disappearance and the sadness this causes his mother and father, especially since even the happy ending is really for all intents and purposes purely arbitrary and totally lucky, has the tendency to bring tears to my eyes, and even instil a bit of fear and consternation in my heart). Still definitely a tale to recommend is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble but with the necessary caveat that very sensitive children might well feel sad and possibly frightened by what the so-called magic pebble has wrought, has caused.
Now if I were just rating William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble as a story in and of itself (and from a purely reading "enjoyment" and appreciation criterium), three stars would likely be the highest rating I would tend to consider (an evocative, even at times sweet offering, albeit one that does feel not altogether comfortable for me personally). However, considering that Sylvester and the Magic Pebble has been repeatedly challenged and was even banned (restricted) in certain areas of the United States simply because the police officers who try to locate Sylvester are illustrated, are depicted as pigs, I will up my rating to four stars (and with both anger and massive indignation point out that ALL of the porcine police officers are depicted as always caring, as continually trying to do their best for Sylvester's worried and grieving family, and that ANY attempts to challenge or censor/ban Sylvester and the Magic Pebble are both dictatorial overreaching and pure and utterly vile ignorance of the highest denominator).
Now if I were just rating William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble as a story in and of itself (and from a purely reading "enjoyment" and appreciation criterium), three stars would likely be the highest rating I would tend to consider (an evocative, even at times sweet offering, albeit one that does feel not altogether comfortable for me personally). However, considering that Sylvester and the Magic Pebble has been repeatedly challenged and was even banned (restricted) in certain areas of the United States simply because the police officers who try to locate Sylvester are illustrated, are depicted as pigs, I will up my rating to four stars (and with both anger and massive indignation point out that ALL of the porcine police officers are depicted as always caring, as continually trying to do their best for Sylvester's worried and grieving family, and that ANY attempts to challenge or censor/ban Sylvester and the Magic Pebble are both dictatorial overreaching and pure and utterly vile ignorance of the highest denominator).
November 23, 2009
I read a Simon & Schuster hardcover edition with this cover and ISBNs, but it looks as though the publication date is 1997 and it’s the restored deluxe edition with color corrections made from the watercolor originals, the illustrations looking just as Steig intended them to appear, and it also contains the text of the author/illustrator’s Caldecott Award acceptance speech, and I really enjoyed reading that speech.
I love the watercolor drawings. They’re really beautiful and expressive.
Well, I guess the moral of this one is to be very careful what you wish for. Very, very, very careful. Sylvester is a donkey who finds a magic pebble, and in order to escape a dangerous situation he wishes he was a rock, so he becomes a rock, and stays a rock, because he has to be holding the pebble for his wishes to come true and, of course, there’s no way for a rock to hold a pebble. So, there’s an awful consequence to his wish. Sylvester and his parents go through the gamut of emotions while he is missing, from glee to fear to despondency, from grief to joy. I did care about Sylvester and his parents and what they go through. Sylvester’s situation does get resolved, after quite a bit of time passes and the resolution depends on happenstance, but because of the ending, I’d have no qualms reading this book to young kids.
I love the watercolor drawings. They’re really beautiful and expressive.
Well, I guess the moral of this one is to be very careful what you wish for. Very, very, very careful. Sylvester is a donkey who finds a magic pebble, and in order to escape a dangerous situation he wishes he was a rock, so he becomes a rock, and stays a rock, because he has to be holding the pebble for his wishes to come true and, of course, there’s no way for a rock to hold a pebble. So, there’s an awful consequence to his wish. Sylvester and his parents go through the gamut of emotions while he is missing, from glee to fear to despondency, from grief to joy. I did care about Sylvester and his parents and what they go through. Sylvester’s situation does get resolved, after quite a bit of time passes and the resolution depends on happenstance, but because of the ending, I’d have no qualms reading this book to young kids.
August 20, 2021
Young donkey Sylvester Duncan discovers a polished, red pebble that grants wishes, and he believes that the magic pebble will solve everything. Adults know the fallacy of that, but kids will really enjoy learning the limits of magic and learning about what’s really important. Beautiful illustrations by William Steig accompany Steig’s wonderful story; no wonder this picture book won the Caldecott Medal!
July 5, 2009
This was great, although I was a little disturbed as a child by how long poor Sylvester is stuck as a rock, and how beyond help he is. But all's well that ends well!
I still prefer The Amazing Bone, though.
I still prefer The Amazing Bone, though.
December 31, 2017
My eight-year-old granddaughter read this to me this weekend. It's one of her favorites from my collection of our children's books. I don't remember reading it as a child, but we have the 1969 paperback version, so it may have been one of my brothers' or sisters' favorites. It's a good story about appreciating family with a bit of magic.
I've lost count how many times we've read this one so it's definitely a keeper if she chooses to read it on her own.
I've lost count how many times we've read this one so it's definitely a keeper if she chooses to read it on her own.
August 1, 2015
I didn't remember much about this story, though the illustrations are familiar. I was surprised how sad and aching the story is, on the whole; perhaps it's just that I'm reading it now as a parent and it's so very chilling to think of what Sylvester's parents are going through. (And poor Sylvester as a rock that whole time! It's probably equally chilling to read it as a child--the thought of being separated from your parents all that time!) The ending is so heartwarming and I love the message, though.
(As I understand it, the book was banned because the police are portrayed as pigs; an unfortunate casting choice by Steig, to be sure.)
June 29, 2013
This was my favorite read of the day by far. Something I picked up because it's a Caldecott award winner. Although the pictures were cute, I didn't necessarily think that they should have been awarded the Caldecott. But the story more than made up for it. Perhaps, growing up with Richard Scary books read to me, I'm spoiled when it comes to animals dressed up as people telling stories. In any case, still a wonderful read. Not something I'd recommend for preschoolers, as my 2 yr old twins, almost 3, weren't at all interested, but my 5 yr old and I were enchanted.
March 14, 2020
When Sylvester finds a beautiful red pebble one day, the rock-collecting donkey is delighted. When that pebble turns out to be a magical stone that grants wishes, he is even more overjoyed, and rushes home to share the largess with his loving parents. Unfortunately, a chance encounter with a lion on his way, and a hastily made wish, see him transformed into an inanimate stone, with little prospect of ever being released from his self-inflicted enchantment. As Sylvester's parents begin their long search for him, he sits quietly in the meadow, unable to move. Will he ever become a donkey again, or be reunited with his parents...?
Apparently this charming picture-book - first published in 1969, and awarded a Caldecott Medal in 1970 - has been challenged in at least eleven states! Why you ask? Because its tale of a donkey who accidentally wishes himself into a stone, thereby causing grief to his loving parents, and to himself, is too disturbing for youngsters? No! Because it contains magic in the first place, and that might give impressionable young readers the 'wrong' idea? Again, no! This one was challenged because the police officers in the story - the helpful police officers who comfort Sylvester's parents, and try to help them find their son - are depicted as pigs! Of course, there's also a housewife depicted as a pig, but housewives aren't quite as organized as the police, who began challenging Sylvester and the Magic Pebble in 1977, in Indiana. That sound you hear is me rolling my eyes...
In any case, I'm glad I finally had a chance to read this classic of the picture-book genre, as I think it really is delightful, with an engrossing tale that treats childhood with the respect it deserves - no, children aren't all sweetness and light, and yes, they experience dark realities - and expressive artwork that captures both the humor and terror of Sylvester's predicament.
Apparently this charming picture-book - first published in 1969, and awarded a Caldecott Medal in 1970 - has been challenged in at least eleven states! Why you ask? Because its tale of a donkey who accidentally wishes himself into a stone, thereby causing grief to his loving parents, and to himself, is too disturbing for youngsters? No! Because it contains magic in the first place, and that might give impressionable young readers the 'wrong' idea? Again, no! This one was challenged because the police officers in the story - the helpful police officers who comfort Sylvester's parents, and try to help them find their son - are depicted as pigs! Of course, there's also a housewife depicted as a pig, but housewives aren't quite as organized as the police, who began challenging Sylvester and the Magic Pebble in 1977, in Indiana. That sound you hear is me rolling my eyes...
In any case, I'm glad I finally had a chance to read this classic of the picture-book genre, as I think it really is delightful, with an engrossing tale that treats childhood with the respect it deserves - no, children aren't all sweetness and light, and yes, they experience dark realities - and expressive artwork that captures both the humor and terror of Sylvester's predicament.
November 7, 2024
A lovely and whimsical story, not without fear and sadness, with a hint of The Monkey's Paw but in a form suitable for children. Written and illustrated by Steig, it won the Caldecott Medal in 1970, putting it among the ranks of Make Way for Ducklings, Where the Wild Things Are, Flotsam, and dozens more. Even my cynical, exacting 10-year old, once a fellow collector of interesting rocks, was moved by it when I forced exposure during bedtime snack time, even if he was breathily uttering, "That's so stupid," while laughing. The peak moment is when Sylvester reappears as himself but with plated picnic food on his back.
What struck me most was part of Steig's comments when he accepted the Caldecott award:
What struck me most was part of Steig's comments when he accepted the Caldecott award:
Art, including juvenile literature, has the power to make any spot on earth the living center of the universe; and unlike science, which often gives us the illusion of understanding things we really do not understand, it helps us to know life in a way that still keeps before us the mystery of things. It enhances the sense of wonder. And wonder is respect for life. Art also stimulates the adventurousness and the playfulness that keep us moving in a lively way and that lead to useful discovery.I consider this in damning contrast to the current trend of AI-generated picture books, books that can only skew and lessen a child's development, produced by people with no love of art, literature, or humanity.
November 20, 2012
Wonderful book. William Steig is an oddball writer in the best sense of the term, like a quirky grandfather dialing into kid-wavelength as only a few genius story-tellers can do. His vocabulary is as demanding as the themes he evokes.
I read this with my 5-year-old grandson yesterday — 3 times. On the first pass we simply absorbed the story. Both of us were worried and sad during the extended middle section of the story, then gratified by the happy outcome at the end. On the second pass my grandson stopped me at times and asked "What is panicky?" (because Sylvester makes a panicky decision) and "What is miserable?" (because the parents are miserable when their son disappears). These are serious but healthy questions. On the third pass we talked about how it would feel to be a stone, and to have your sad parents sit on you while having a picnic, and how special it would be to have a magic pebble, and how you have to be careful with magic powers.
After an hour of this my brain was utterly exhausted, and my grandson was that much wiser.
What a powerful story, to do all this. And it all was initiated by my grandson: he chose the book, he asked the questions, he asked for the repeat readings. I wouldn't recommend forcing this book on some kid who wasn't receptive to it, but ... wow, by all means read it with a kid who is ready.
I read this with my 5-year-old grandson yesterday — 3 times. On the first pass we simply absorbed the story. Both of us were worried and sad during the extended middle section of the story, then gratified by the happy outcome at the end. On the second pass my grandson stopped me at times and asked "What is panicky?" (because Sylvester makes a panicky decision) and "What is miserable?" (because the parents are miserable when their son disappears). These are serious but healthy questions. On the third pass we talked about how it would feel to be a stone, and to have your sad parents sit on you while having a picnic, and how special it would be to have a magic pebble, and how you have to be careful with magic powers.
After an hour of this my brain was utterly exhausted, and my grandson was that much wiser.
What a powerful story, to do all this. And it all was initiated by my grandson: he chose the book, he asked the questions, he asked for the repeat readings. I wouldn't recommend forcing this book on some kid who wasn't receptive to it, but ... wow, by all means read it with a kid who is ready.
March 11, 2009
this book is probably the single largest influence on my own writing.
strange, but true.
never far from my mind.
strange, but true.
never far from my mind.
September 24, 2017
I found this book terrifying as a child. It is still pretty darn creepy.
January 24, 2021
endearing
September 24, 2017
Banned Book Week 2017. This year I'm reading a few picture books that have been challenged for their content, this one apparently because the police are portrayed as pigs. That seems pretty innocuous or at best a gentle, lazy jab in a gentle, lazy story.
I'm torn in deciding if this story is a simple variation on The Monkey's Paw, a fable about the grief of parents' who have lost a child and hope to one day be reunited in the afterlife, or a Christian allegory with miracles, Roman lions, and a spring resurrection. I mostly settle on too silly to matter and absolutely too silly to take offense.
I'm torn in deciding if this story is a simple variation on The Monkey's Paw, a fable about the grief of parents' who have lost a child and hope to one day be reunited in the afterlife, or a Christian allegory with miracles, Roman lions, and a spring resurrection. I mostly settle on too silly to matter and absolutely too silly to take offense.
July 1, 2015
The first time I ever read this book, almost 40 years ago now, I had no idea that the copy I read was missing the very last page. So, for the longest time I thought the book ended when Sylvester turned back into a donkey. For years, I thought that the book had the oddest abrupt ending. Then, one day, I was perusing a new copy of the book that had been ordered, and lo and behold, there were two more pages to the story! I was glad that there was a bit more denouement to the story than I had realized. Otherwise, this has always been one of my very favorite Caldecott award winners, with its winsome characters and appealing illustrations.
June 19, 2011
My son earns pebbles for making good choices and we display his earned good choice pebbles in a pretty glass bowl in the kitchen for everyone to see...so, a book about a magic pebble was fun for him because he had a personal connection :).
Beautiful watercolor illustrations. Meaningful story about what matters most in life, family. A must read for all!
Beautiful watercolor illustrations. Meaningful story about what matters most in life, family. A must read for all!
June 28, 2023
I wonder what age child Steig was targeting? I've only read this with kids over age 9. This is a clever way to emphasize that sometimes you don't really want what you wish for.
September 29, 2017
It is Banned Books Week, and I am reading Challenged/Banned books. This is the seventh book for this week.
This book was banned because it portrayed the police as pigs.
Sylvester loves collecting pebbles, especially pretty ones. And then one day he finds a magical one, one that grants wishes! What will Sylvester do now?
Of course he is going to try it out, to see if it is really the pebble, or something else. He quickly finds out that the pebble is truly magical. The first thing he encounters while going home is a lion (what the hell is a lion doing there). And he really needs a better head on his shoulders. Instead of wishing the lion away... he wishes himself into a rock. Yep, a rock. He could have wished for the lion to be kind or a vegetarian, he could have wished for anything. :P But no a rock seemed the best thing.
I sure didn't expect that turn though. With the whole title I thought the book would be about Sylvester wishing for everything in life, but instead it is about him being a rock and unable to turn back. We see his family turn sad. How they tried to live their lives knowing that they may never see Sylvester.
One thing, how the hell did that pebble stay with Sylvester all the time? I know, I know, this is a kid's book and the pebble is magical, but really, with all the snow, wind and animals, that wouldn't be possible at all.
And like with all other animal books were animals are the doing human things, why are some animals human-like yet others are still animals (like the ducks in the pond)? And the same goes for clothing. Why did so many animals wear clothes, yet so many others are naked? I guess one shouldn't think about it too much. But I just can't stop thinking about it.
The art was so-so. The animals were pretty detailed, but the rest fell a bit short.
So yeah, not what I expected at all. It was a bit depressing really.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
This book was banned because it portrayed the police as pigs.
Sylvester loves collecting pebbles, especially pretty ones. And then one day he finds a magical one, one that grants wishes! What will Sylvester do now?
Of course he is going to try it out, to see if it is really the pebble, or something else. He quickly finds out that the pebble is truly magical. The first thing he encounters while going home is a lion (what the hell is a lion doing there). And he really needs a better head on his shoulders. Instead of wishing the lion away... he wishes himself into a rock. Yep, a rock. He could have wished for the lion to be kind or a vegetarian, he could have wished for anything. :P But no a rock seemed the best thing.
I sure didn't expect that turn though. With the whole title I thought the book would be about Sylvester wishing for everything in life, but instead it is about him being a rock and unable to turn back. We see his family turn sad. How they tried to live their lives knowing that they may never see Sylvester.
One thing, how the hell did that pebble stay with Sylvester all the time? I know, I know, this is a kid's book and the pebble is magical, but really, with all the snow, wind and animals, that wouldn't be possible at all.
And like with all other animal books were animals are the doing human things, why are some animals human-like yet others are still animals (like the ducks in the pond)? And the same goes for clothing. Why did so many animals wear clothes, yet so many others are naked? I guess one shouldn't think about it too much. But I just can't stop thinking about it.
The art was so-so. The animals were pretty detailed, but the rest fell a bit short.
So yeah, not what I expected at all. It was a bit depressing really.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
September 29, 2020
Sylvester finds a beautiful red pebble, and he soon learns that the pebble will grant wishes. Suddenly Sylvester is confronted with a lion. Sylvester is so frightened that he wishes he were a rock, and he is. The lion, bewildered, walks away, but Sylvester is unable to change himself back into his true form, a donkey, as he is not touching the magical pebble. He is gone for a long time until one day his parents go for a picnic and his mother sits upon his rock self and wishes Sylvester were with them, and, of course, magically he returns.
I love author/illustrator William Steig's wonderful vocabulary in his children's books.
I also love this book because Sylvester, like my husband, collects "pebbles of unusual shape and color."
I reread this book this week because of Banned Books Week. Police associations in twelve states encouraged libraries to ban Sylvester and the Magic Pebble because police in the story are depicted as pigs.
My husband assured me that he was not offended by the depiction of a rockhound as a donkey and would not seek to have this book banned because of it.
I love author/illustrator William Steig's wonderful vocabulary in his children's books.
I also love this book because Sylvester, like my husband, collects "pebbles of unusual shape and color."
I reread this book this week because of Banned Books Week. Police associations in twelve states encouraged libraries to ban Sylvester and the Magic Pebble because police in the story are depicted as pigs.
My husband assured me that he was not offended by the depiction of a rockhound as a donkey and would not seek to have this book banned because of it.
October 6, 2017
From childhood, I have been troubled whenever I know something as a reader (or viewer) that characters in a book (or show) have yet to discover. It makes me so anxious that I either want to stop reading, or skip quickly ahead to the (hopefully) happy ending. This is probably why I have never liked Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. There’s nothing wrong with the story - it’s well-told, well-illustrated, and has an important moral. The animals are depicted with very human characteristics and clothing, and the subtlety of facial expressions shows Steig’s wonderful skill with just a few carefully placed lines. I just can’t handle the pain the parents face when they think their beloved Sylvester has gone missing, and it makes me nuts that the magic pebble is right there, and there’s nothing I can do to alert them!
Read at Pajama Story Time on 6/13/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at Pajama Story Time on 6/13/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
November 9, 2016
This story opens with Sylvester sitting at a table looking over his beloved pebble collection. One day Sylvester stumbles upon a magic pebble that makes wishes come true. Excited to share it with his family, Sylvester hurries home to show his mother and father. On the way he runs into a scary lion and makes a wish he will soon regret.
This personified animal fantasy includes main characters which are talking donkeys and other supporting animal characters. The magical powers come from the pebble that Sylvester finds and that pebble brings about the conflict in the story. The illustrations are colorful and simple yet show the sorrowful emotions felt by Sylvester’s parents after his unexplained disappearance. The story takes place in the countryside where the animals live and work together to search for Sylvester. Overall, an interesting and memorable story.
This personified animal fantasy includes main characters which are talking donkeys and other supporting animal characters. The magical powers come from the pebble that Sylvester finds and that pebble brings about the conflict in the story. The illustrations are colorful and simple yet show the sorrowful emotions felt by Sylvester’s parents after his unexplained disappearance. The story takes place in the countryside where the animals live and work together to search for Sylvester. Overall, an interesting and memorable story.
January 24, 2018
William Steig was a good painter and, in my judgment, a better writer. I don't love this particular book like I love Steig's Amos and Boris, but it's still quite good. The author evokes the hopelessness of Sylvester's situation--"stone-dumb"--and by extending it a little longer than you'd expect on first reading he heightens the drama and therefore the satisfaction at Sylvester's second and better metamorphosis. My favorite aspects of Steig's writing are his love of the long sentence, his often mellifluous prose, and his use of advanced vocabulary--all of which issue from his fundamental judgment that children ought to be taken seriously. There is a merriment to his writing, to be sure, but it is "that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously" (C.S. Lewis).
August 25, 2012
This story is about a young donkey who, due to some "fantastical" interference, is separated for a long time from his parents. It does, ultimately, have a happy ending, but it's still too sad for me. However, children perceive things differently, and my 4-year-old loves this magical tale. Every time we get to a certain page she says, "this is where Mommy always cries."
February 7, 2024
Пятёрка за содержание и иллюстрации! Для восьмилетки простовато, но как первая самостоятельно прочитанная книга на каталонском, очень даже хорошо!
February 27, 2024
Does anyone else’s boyfriend read children’s books aloud to them over the phone? Just me?
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