Ninnyhammer

by Dick King-Smith

Peter is a young boy, living on a farm. One day, whilst out doing chores for his father, he comes across a strange white stick floating in the stream. He reaches out and catches it—and finds an exciting new friend in the process. Ninnyhammer is the local village simpleton, but Peter knows there's more to him than that—he's a magician and the white stick is his magic wand. Ninnyhammer is so grateful that he starts to help Peter and his family with their struggling farm—making the sow have more piglets, helping the corn to grow faster, and the hens to lay twice as many eggs. But Peter wants to do something for Ninnyhammer in return. Can it really be right that his friend has to bed down in a hole with foxcubs? And can Peter persuade his dad to help?

Genres: Childrens

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2007

About the author

Dick King-Smith was born and raised in Gloucestershire, England, surrounded by pet animals. After twenty years as a farmer, he turned to teaching and then to writing children's books.

Dick writes mostly about animals: farmyard fantasy, as he likes to call it, often about pigs, his special favorites. He enjoys writing for children, meeting the children who read his books, and knowing that they get enjoyment from what he does.

Among his well-loved books is Babe, The Gallant Pig, which was recently made into a major motion picture, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Dick lived with his wife in a small 17th-century cottage, about three miles from the house where he was born.

Reviews

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange little book about a farm boy who befriends the village idiot only to find that he is a...wizard? something like that...who carries an ivory wand that he does his magic with. The Ninnyhammer repays the little boy's friendship by using his magic to help Dad make ends meet on the farm.

Trouble is, there's not much story here, not really. No real buildup, no conflict (and no, I'm not talking about violence). It's just "tap tap--shazam!" and he gets what he wants.
Harmless, I guess. Can be read in a few minutes. But it might give impressionable or lonely little kids the mistaken idea that befriending homeless people will lead to their every wish being granted.

Gotta be honest here--the best thing about this book is the illustrations. It really is a 2-star--OK, but just ok.

[Lara (luellabella) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 strange stars. An odd tale about a wizard called Ninnyhammer who helps a young boy, Peter, by bewitching the animals on his family farm to be more productive.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

569 - 2019