Books – Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears

 ☻☻☻☻☻
(five smiley faces out of five)

Mr. Putter & Tabby Pick the Pears is a book by Newberry Medal winning author Cynthia Rylant. It’s about an older man, Mr. Putter, and his cat companion, Tabby. Mr. Putter dreams of making pear jelly from the pears growing on the pear tree in his front yard, but first, he must get the pears down off the tree. Trouble is, old Mr. Putter has “cranky legs” that won’t allow him to climb a ladder.

Recently, my grade schooler brought this book home as part of her home work, and at about page three, I was hooked. I get so aggravated with children’s books that are sappy, dippy, drippy, poorly written or just plain boring. That’s not the case here. The writing is fresh and funny, and Rylant takes an interesting plot concept and works it through to a satisfying end. And let’s face it; what with video games, television, DVDs and the internet, books need to be particularly entertaining to engage today’s youngsters.

Mr. Putter decides that to get the pears off his tree, he’ll shoot them down with a sling shot. But first, he has to make one. What to use for the elastic? Why not the elastic from an obnoxious pair of pink boxers with poodles printed all over them that his brother gave him as a gag gift? But it’s not gratuitous use of underwear and slingshots; it’s how Rylant treats the material that really makes it entertaining. After all, several authors these days seem to think that referencing underwear, or farting or potties equals engaging reading material for children, but it’s the writing itself that makes a book good; not just gimmicky concepts or material.

I would say that the Mr. Putter series is geared toward kids from the ages of about five to nine, depending on how well your child reads or how much he or she likes to be read to.

Mr. Putter & Tabby Pick the Pears is only one in a series of Mr. Putter books, including Mr. Putter & Tabby Pour the Tea, Mr. Putter & Tabby Paint the Porch, Mr. Putter & Tabby Walk the Dog and more. Our family enjoyed Pick the Pears so much that we will definitely be purchasing several Mr. Putter books for our own personal library.