Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep

by Eleanor Farjeon

Book Overview

"A classic tale of tyranny overcome. . . . Voake makes this neglected gem an unforgettable read-aloud look new." KIRKUS REVIEWS (STARRED REVIEW) Elsie Piddock is a born skipper. By the time she's seven, the tireless girl can even outskip the fairies and is rewarded with a gift of rare and lasting value. Can she use it many years later to save the children's fabled skipping grounds from a greedy, factory-building lord? Charlotte Voake's exuberant art...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763607908
• ISBN13: 9780763607906
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.9" x 10.9"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

Great, but a tear-jerker.

All the other reviews here have it right, Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep is a wonderful, well-written story with a good foundation and a positive ending. However, there are some themes within the book (the loss of childhood/innocence, poverty, the coldness of industrial development, etc) that are very sad. Those themes give it weight and breadth, of course, and it's exceptional - but if you wouldn't give your child The Velveteen Rabbit to read, maybe reconsider this one.

Imaginative story, lovely prose, lesson in pursuing your goals

We were given this book when my children were ages 4 and 6. At the time, I was involved in trying to save natural areas near our neighborhood. The kids loved this book, I loved this book, and we all understood the relationship between fairies, using your natural gifts, and pursuing your dreams. I was surprsed the kids loved it as much as they did (girl and boy). We still read the story about once a year -- always aloud, even thought the kids are now 9 and 11! We, too, loved the rhyme, almost like a chorus, which another reviewer shared. The illustrations are also lovely.

Please don't miss this book - it'll be a favorite

Wasn't sure my son would go for this book, because the main character is a girl who loves to jump rope (not our usual fare), but I was enamored with it and gave it a go. I'm glad I did, because he loved it. The writing flows very nicely, and has it's own 'Old World charm' - "Elsie Piddock skips as never so." Lots of fun to read, and a great story about standing up for what is important to you sort of snuck in there...Buy this book as a gift for anyone who has girls because they will surely love it!

Once encountered, never forgotten!

Any child, and I am now fifty-nine years old, who can recite Andy Spandy's ropeskipping rhyme has me for a friend. This is one of those tales for children that sounds better being told aloud by a good reader. When I was growing up, both my parents loved to read aloud, and my sister and I heard many fine tales before the fireplace, listening to mother or father.But the lilt of the language as the rope swings round is the unforgettable part:ANDY SPANDY SUGARDY CANDYFRENCH ALMOND ROCK!BREAD AND BUTTER FOR YOUR SUPPER'SALL YOUR MOTHER'S GOT!

Don't skip this gem

There may be no better book for reading aloud to pre-teens. Originally one of the stories in Farjeon's "Tales Told Under the Green Umbrella" -- long out of print -- Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep is easily as much fun for the adult reader as for the young listener, and in this case that is saying a great deal. It is actually two consecutive stories (ideal for consecutive nights), one a delightful fantasy of fairies and skipping rope -- just as appealing to boys as to girls, honest -- and the second an adventure, at once enthralling and emotionally satisfying, with an ending that will bring tears of delight to all who hear it.