Synopsis "Ten Tales: The Youthful Adventures of Pete and Toad (in English)"
Two rambunctious young brothers, Pete and Toad, share a Rocky Mountain childhood brimming with curiosity and adventure. What innocent mischief will they fall into? What will they learn as they grow from the ages six and eight to eleven and thirteen? What will their parents learn? Find out in these ten inter-related short stories, set in the mid 1900's and each as dynamic and unpredictable as childhood itself. and each Told with an intensely visual style and a strong sense of family and community, these vivid adventures weave together the intimate details that make every childhood unique and unforgettable. Stories ideal to be read aloud by Grandparents as bedtime stories for young children. Stories the whole family will want to discuss. In "Pillow Fight" the brothers, age 6 and 8, destroy their mother's Valentine Day gift and suffer a period of emotional uncertainty. "The Silk Horse: " A plan to pull Toad's first tooth with a silk thread results in a neighbor's horse falling into mortal danger. "Warm Eggs: " The boys visit their Grandparents'with their cousin Helen. Will her dead chicken Nellie's eggs hatch? Will the boys play fair? "The Kite: " An Easter kite proves strangely capable of bringing happiness to the whole town, but sharing it proves difficult. "The Matchbook Army: " Pete and Toad find a box of matches outside a store and cause a hillside fire with predictable and un-predictable consequences. "Felix: " A catfish is caught and kept alive long enough to conjure magic thinking in the minds of the boys. It there are "cat-fish" might there be "fish-kittens?" "The Spring Willow: " Toad, trusted alone with the brothers' new gun, kills a bird when he had promised to only scout, not hunt. "Iggy: " The parish priest invites his nephew to spend the summer, and the three boys learn new things about friendship and family. "Carp Lake: " Now finally old enough, the boys take the family boat to capture a carp. "The Perfect Pitch: " Pete, nearly thirteen, ends his childhood baseball career with a wild pitch that in a strange was also proves "perfect." Taken together, they evoke a single picture of all the rivalry and teamwork of young brothers, as well as the innocence and delightful mischief that make childhood such a treasure chest of memory. Ten Tales is for children of all ages, from Kindergartners to Grandparents to enjoy. The stuff of life-long memories,
