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by Lois Lowry
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- First Published:
- Mar 31, 2008, 176 pages
- Paperback:
- Mar 2010, 176 pages
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Jo Perry- Publication Information
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About This Book
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- Excerpt
Book Summary
A hilarious novel which parodies "old-fashioned" children's books, including the requisite uncaring and self-centered parents, estimable orphans, and a questionable nanny...
Abandoned by their ill-humored parents to the care of an odious nanny, Tim, the twins, Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and their sister, Jane, attempt to fulfill their roles as good old-fashioned children. Following the models set in lauded tales from "A Christmas Carol" to "Mary Poppins", the four Willoughbys hope to attain their proscribed happy ending too, or at least a satisfyingly maudlin one.
However, it is an unquestionably ruthless act that sets in motion the transformations that lead to their salvation and to happy endings for not only the four children, but their nanny, an abandoned baby, a candy magnate, and his long-lost son too.
Replete with a tongue-in-cheek glossary and bibliography, this hilarious and decidedly old-fashioned parody pays playful homage to classic works of children's literature.
1.
THE OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY AND THE BEASTLY BABY
Once upon a time there was a family namedWilloughby: an old-fashioned type of family, withfour children.
The eldest was a boy named Timothy; he wastwelve. Barnaby and Barnaby were ten-year-oldtwins. No one could tell them apart, and it was evenmore confusing because they had the same name; sothey were known as Barnaby A and Barnaby B. Mostpeople, including their parents, shortened this to Aand B, and many were unaware that the twins evenhad names.
There was also a girl, a timid, pretty little thingwith eyeglasses and bangs. She was the youngest, justsix and a half, and her name was Jane.
They lived in a tall, thin house in an ordinary cityand they did the kinds of things that children in oldfashionedstories do.They went to school and to theseashore. They had birthday parties. Occasionallythey were taken to the circus or the zoo, althoughthey did not care much for either, excepting the elephants.Their father...
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BookBrowse Review
BookBrowse
Lois Lowry's The Willoughbys is the latest faux antique to hit your quaint little bookshop's fusty shelves. To make sure the reader gets the joke, Lowry's blast from the past includes pointedly charming retro pen and ink illustrations; wavy old-fashioned fonts, and alliterative, adverb-laden diction ("A Novel Nefariously Written & Ignominiously Illustrated by the Author") ...To be truly delectable, The Willoughbys must work for children who haven't read Toby Tyler, Or, Ten Weeks with the Circus; Ragged Dick; Pollyanna; Heidi; orThe Bobbsey Twins and Baby May. It does. Despite Lowry's satiric distancing and its jokes and puns, when the Willoughbys, homeless and hungry in more ways than one, finally discover that they're valuable, worthy of nourishment, and capable of bringing joy to grown-ups, we applaud...continued
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(Reviewed by Jo Perry).
Media Reviews
Booklist
Starred Review. [S]ly humor and a certain deadpan zaniness give literary conventions an ironic twist, with hilarious results.
Horn Book
[A] lollipop of witty metafiction...cunningly crocheted into a hilarious doily of drollery.
Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. Readers who are willing to give themselves up entirely to the sly foolishness will relish this sparklingly smart satire, which treats them with collegial familiarity. (snort-inducing glossary). Ages 9-12
Publishers Weekly - Lemony Snicket
Starred Review. Lowry, who casts her noble and enviable shadow wide across the landscape of children's literature, from fantasy to realism, here turns her quick, sly gaze to parody .... There are those who will find that this novel pales in comparison to Ms. Lowry's more straight-faced efforts, such as The Giver. Such people are invited to take tea with the Bobbsey Twins. Ms. Lowry and I will be across town downing something stronger mixed by Anastasia Krupnik, whom one suspects of sneaking sips of Ms. Lowry's bewitching brew.
Reader Reviews
leah gardner
bad
It was very goodbad. Yes I said it...goodbad. this is a new word meaning that this book is good but it has some faults to it that need to be fixed.
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Beyond the Book
Candy Bars, Fascinating Facts
Chocolate as a drink was a favorite of Montezuma, Emperor of the Aztecs. Hernando Cortez brought the drink back to Spain in 1529. It remained a favorite of the Spanish royalty for many years before being consumed widely throughout Europe.
It was not until three centuries later in England that chocolate was first used as a non-liquid confection. The inventor of 'chocolate for eating' is unknown, but in 1847, Joseph Fry & Son -- under the leadership of the original Joseph Fry's great-grandson -- discovered a way to mix some of the melted cacao butter back into defatted, or "Dutched," cocoa powder (along with sugar) to create a paste that could be pressed into a mold. John Cadbury added a similar product to his range in 1849.
By today's ...
Continued...
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Read-Alikes
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Read-Alikes
If you liked The Willoughbys, try these:
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place are no ordinary children, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess, and mysteries abound in this first volume in a new series for ages 9+.
The winner of a National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, and countless other awards has written her richest, most spirited book yet, filled with characters that readers will love, and never forget.
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