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by: Randall Jarrell
Amazon.com's Price: $8.95 Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780062059048
ISBN: 0062059041
Label: HarperTrophy
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: November 30, 1996
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Release Date: October 25, 1996
Sales Rank: 457897
Studio: HarperTrophy
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
'Once upon a time, long, long ago, where the forest runs down to the ocean, a hunter lived all alone in a house made of logs he had chopped for himself and shingles he had split for himself.' These words ease the reader into the elegant, dreamlike world of Randall Jarrell's Newbery Honor book The Animal Family. One night, the lonely hunter hears the singing of a mermaid, and because 'he himself was as patient as an animal,' the mermaid learns to trust him, speaking to him in a voice like the water. In time they teach each other their languages, with many amusing exchanges occurring as the hunter tries to teach his new friend terrestrial words and concepts. The hunter explains, 'The house is a big wooden thing ... that you stay inside at night or when it rains.' 'Why?' she asks. 'To keep from getting wet.' 'To keep from getting wet?' the mermaid says despairingly.
The mermaid and the hunter become a family when the hunter takes a bear cub from its mother to live with them as a son. 'The bear's table manners were bad. But so were the mermaid's--especially as she couldn't resist throwing the bear pieces of fish.' Having a bear around seems perfectly normal, but not quite a complete family, so eventually the hunter captures a spotted baby lynx. When the lynx brings home not another dead partridge, but a little boy, the delicate, playful family dynamics change again. This book of low-key epiphanies is packed with delightful, illuminating, often unexpected comparisons of the ocean world and the land world most non-mermaids wouldn't have considered. Enhanced by a beautiful design and gorgeous illustrations by Maurice Sendak, this book is perfect for any reader--young or old--ready for a bit of gentle philosophy with a decided twinkle. (All ages) --Karin Snelson
Product Description:
This is the story of how, one by one, a man found himself a family. Almost nowhere in fiction is there a stranger, dearer, or funnier family -- and the life that the members of The Animal Familylive together, there in the wilderness beside the sea, is as extraordinary and as enchanting as the family itself.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - A timeless message .. of the times
Randall Jarrell (1914-65) is better known as a poet, although probably best known today for his poetry criticism. He also wrote a few children's book, most notably The Bat-Poet and The Animal Family, the later published the same year he died and winning the 1966 Newbery Honor. It is wonderfully illustrated by Maurice Sendak - of Where the Wild Things Are fame - in beautiful pen and ink drawings.
The story is a sort of fable along the lines of Hans Christian Andersen or Lewis Carroll, ... Read More
Rating: - Perfection
This is a beautiful, timeless story, told in gorgeous prose, and charmingly decorated. I'm not the sort of person who gushes over books, but this one is true literary perfection, and not just for children. It's the kind of book that, no matter how old you are when you first read it, will stay with you for the rest of your life.
Rating: - Gentle, old-fashioned, and whimsical.
This story by Jarrell is gentle, mythical, and stands the test of time. A short story about a solitary hunter on an island, who meets a mermaid, and together form a family with animals they meet. The tone is warm and soft, kind and at times bittersweet.
While perfect for bedtime, cold or rainy days, this book is appealing to me even as i grow older. The subtle lessons about companionship, newness, differences, loneliness, loss, and joy are not forced to the fore. Rather, an old-fashioned ... Read More
Rating: - Beautiful
I read this as a child. It got stuck in my mind, but I could never remember the title, thinking of it only as the story of the Hunter and the Mermaid. I searched for it for years.
This is a beautiful story, one of my favorites for children.
Rating: - A fairy tale brought to life
Every once in a while, an author manages to pull off a novel that carries with it the exact tone and magical feeling of a fairy tale. In the genre of The Last Unicorn and The Princess Bride, this beautiful story takes you into a peaceful world where a lonely hunter lives by the sea.
The story follows the hunter's efforts to make a family for himself, and to keep that family safe. I don't want to spoil any of the plot points, but I will say that this gentle fable is going to fill each reader ... Read More
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