A Tale of Two Sitters

Adventures of Wishbone #9

by Joanne Barkan, Charles Dickens

Inspired by Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, Wishbone the dog imagines himself as Charles Darnay, a wealthy Frenchman who flees his homeland when war breaks out, but when a friend faces trouble, Wishbone is chased by an angry mob on his return home. Original.

Genres: Childrens, Retellings, Middle Grade, Animals, Dogs

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I see any reference to A Tale of Two Cities, I can't help but be reminded of Jill's iconic line in Home Improvement when Randy tries to take the easy way out of his reading assignment by listening to the aforementioned Dickens work on tape: "It's going to be the worst of times for you if you don't turn this off and go read the book!" Makes me laugh every time!

As for this book, it was standard fare for this series...which isn't a bad thing. I had fun with it, and it made Dickens a bit more accessible for those who have trouble with his wordy writing style.

[Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good story and well told, but I would not be able to read the original story because of the tragedies and sadness.

[Emily]

The book cut out some relatively important information, namely the part about Carton and Darnay looking alike, but that makes sense because this Darnay is a dog. Still, does a wonderful job of condensing the original story to be understandable for younger readers and is far more entertaining than your average abridged copy.

Also, I watched the episode on Youtube after finishing this and it was possibly the worst episode of Wishbone. Didn't do Wishbone or Dickens justice at all. Unfortunate.

[Hope Irvin Marston · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the first Wishbone story I read. I didn't remember THE TALE OF TWO CITIES too clearly and I had a hard time understanding who was on first in this storyline. I don't know the age of the intended audience for the book. Because of the violence in the tale, I wouldn't recommend it to any of my young reader friends.

Hope Irvin Marston, author of EYE ON THE IDITAROD: AISLING'S QUEST. .

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in preparation for a (re)read of the original, which I loved in high school four decades ago. Good grounding/introduction. I can only hope the full classic is worth all the extra words....

The framing story, Wishbone as himself with Joe, David, and the rest, is ok, though awfully concise. I suppose that bit's key to the appeal for the young audience, though, to get them interested in the series.

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

its boring to me

[Johnathanw014 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The time is when the French War was. 1845-1849. There was a man(dog), that went by the name of Charles Darnay(really an Evrémonde). There also was a dog with his owner, Joe (present time)and his friend Dave hang out and Dave brings his sister and his sister's friend. Wishbone has to survive from the girls dressing him up and grabbing him. Meanwhile in France, Charles goes to his Uncle Saint Evrémonde. His uncle was assassinated and Charley moved to Paris. He was sent to court, won in court, and married. He had a daughter and went to France when the rebels had taken over. He had lost in court and was sent to be-headed by la guillotine. He then escaped and one of his friends was killed instead of him and went back home. He was happy in the end.
I liked this book because whenever it was getting to a very exciting, climax like scene, it would change from the one story to the problem for Wishbone. It left a a lot of cliff-hangers. It also had a very known saying to me.
" It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the the age of belief, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of indecruelty,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, in was the winter of despair,
we had it all before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we are all going the other way ...".
My favorite saying.

[Tarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute summary: Read the tragic story of Charles Darnay through Wishbone's eyes. It was hard imagining a dog (whiskers, tail, four legs and all) being married to dear Lucie, but that was how it went. I was also concerned about how Sydney Canton would do his part in the story, but it turned out more beautiful than I thought it could. Kudos to the author! For young readers, this is a great way to introduce to them "A Tale of Two Cities."

The other half of the story about modern-day Wishbone and his owners, the Talbots, wasn't as interesting to me. And I didn't find Wishbone's "witty comments" appealing –- at all.

[CD · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read based on a "Tale of Two Cities". Perhaps not literature-children-s but that is my shelf for kids books.

Another dog book for the collection.

You've got to love the irony of the author's last name too!

Woof

[Noelle Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book brought back the nostalgia of watching Wishbone on tv after school. How I loved that show. Reading this Wishbone book has made me want to read the classic it was based on. Definitely worth giving to kids in order to inspire them to read the classics.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite (and first) Wishbone book I have ever read. It's the only one I seem to vividly remember after a few years. In some way, it was very memorable.

[Lando · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a good book recommend it