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The Hinky-Pink: An Old Tale

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The Hinky-Pink: An Old Tale

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Overview

A happy Hinky-Pink is a fine thing. An unhappy Hinky-Pink pinches!

That is what happens to Anabel, a young seamstress in Old Italy who has only days to finish her dream: sewing a gown for the princess to wear at the Butterfly Ball.

Thanks — or no thanks — to the Hinky-Pink Anabel is woozy for want of sleep. Her lace looks like cheesecloth; her hems, like saddle cinches. Night after night, the Hinky-Pink keeps wrestling her bedclothes to the floor — and pinching. What is its problem? And how is Anabel to help?

A grand old favorite of storytellers is here given sprightly new life.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689875885
Publisher:	Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
Publication date:	09/09/2008
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Megan McDonald, beloved author of the Judy Moody books, is also a gifted storyteller. She is the author of When the Library Lights Go Out, illustrated by Katherine Tillotson; The Hinky-Pink, illustrated by Brian Floca; and the now-classic Is This a House for Hermit Crab?, illustrated by S.D. Schindler. She lives in Sebastopol, California.

Brian Floca is the author and illustrator of the acclaimed picture books Locomotive, winner of the Caldecott Medal and a New York Times bestseller; Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11; and Lightship, each a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book. He is the illustrator of numerous additional books, including Avi’s Poppy series. You can visit him online at BrianFloca.com.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

In this small-format entry, a happy hybrid of traditional tale and quirky cartoon, McDonald (Judy Moody) and Floca (Lightship) recast a story from 1940 to tickle a contemporary fancy. Humble seamstress Anabel's dream of sewing a princess's ball gown is finally about to come true-until a Hinky-Pink, a mysterious, seemingly invisible creature begins robbing her of sleep night after night. The characters clearly inhabit fairy tale land-"back when mirrors could talk and princes were frogs"-but this particular magical realm intersects with a long-ago Florence, depicted in Floca's limber ink-and-watercolor illustrations and invoked by the occasional Italian word or phrase. Like the text, the art hits just the right tone of tongue-in-cheek earnestness: after stating that the heroine's name is Anabel, the omniscient narrator adds, "Alas, notAnabella," and a speech balloon floats out of the illustration (a panorama of Florence) with an echoing "Alas." The lively design mixes full-page bleeds, pictures stretching across spreads, and tiny animated vignettes; a profusion of detail doesn't impede a spirited sense of motion. For extra fun, endnotes identify Florentine landmarks. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 2-4
Anabel is a seamstress in Old Italy who dreams of making a dress worthy of a princess. Isabella Caramella Gorgonzola is a princess who gives the girl one week to make her a dress worthy of the Butterfly Ball. Locked in the tower sewing room, Anabel finds the finest silk, chiffon, and crepe as well as gold scissors, thread that is clear as glass, and a silver thimble. Unfortunately, she also shares the room with a Hinky-Pink that pinches her at night, steals her covers, and makes sleep impossible. When Anabel is "chill as a fish and can't sew a stitch," the nursemaid advises her to make the Hinky-Pink a bed of its own. After many unsuccessful attempts, Anabel fashions a tiny bed from her silver thimble, and the Hinky-Pink hums happily. Having slept "the sleep of a princess without a pea," she sews the perfect dress in a single day. Illustrations are done in watercolor and ink and feature a warm palette of rose, peach, and gold tones. Actual landmarks are used to make Firenze come alive, while Italian words and phrases are scattered throughout, sometimes placed in speech bubbles. McDonald's flawless storytelling melds with Floca's joyous art, bringing new life to Margery Bailey's "The Bed Just So" from Whistle for Good Fortune (Little, Brown, 1948). Girls who love princess stories will adore this lively tale.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

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