Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle

by Margaret Read MacDonald and Rumer Godden

Book Overview

Oh what a pity, what a pity pity pity With this refrain, the old woman in the vinegar bottle complains until she gets a cottage ... then a row house ... then a mansion ... How far will she move up before she's satisfied? Storyteller and children's librarian Margaret Read MacDonald pairs a whiny old woman with a no-nonsense fairy in a comical tale of ever-expanding greed and its natural result. Nancy Dunaway Fowlkes's expansive India ink and watercolor illustrations capture MacDonald's high-spirited rendering of this old British fairy tale.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874834155
• ISBN13: 9780874834154
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: August House Publishers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 11.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

great story and pix

I love this book - the story is wonderful for many ages and the illustrations are wonderful!

Wonderful lesson

This is one of my favorite books. As a pre-kindergarten teacher, I read this and the children loved it. They would repeat the lines, "And she didn't even say thank you", and when one of them was whining, the question "Do you live in a vinegar bottle?" caused the whining to instantly cease. I have even found myself using the phrase to describe other adults who are never happy! Highly recommended.

A good book to read every night

My 7 yr. old daughter loves this book. It's a funny book about an old lady who is never satisfied with her house even though the fairy keeps granting her wishes for bigger and better houses. The morale is a good one--happiness comes from within, not from your possessions. My daughter soon memorized the verses that repeat throughout the book and recites them each time we read the book. The pictures are beautiful, detailed, and full of bright colors.