The Giant Ball of String

by Arthur Geisert

Beyond the resourcefulness of its porcine citizens, there wasn’t much to recommend the small mining town of Rumpus Ridge. But even in such a hardscrabble place, they had created something they could be proud over the years they had collected the biggest ball of string in the world. Folks came from miles around to see it. But one night, a flood carries their prized string away and washes it ashore near the town of Cornwall. Rather than return it, the Cornwallians decide to keep the string for themselves. They start to make plans to dedicate the string in its new gazebo, but their celebrations could be short-lived, because, having discovered the deceit, those resourceful piglets from Rumpus Ridge have begun to make some plans of their own . . .

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2002

About the author

Arthur Geisert grew up in Los Angeles, California, and claims not to have seen a pig until he was an adult. Trained as a sculptor in college, Geisert learned to etch at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. Geisert has published just about a book a year for the past thirty years. Every one of his books has been illustrated with etchings. His work has appeared in The New Yorker and The Horn Book Magazine. In 2010 his book Ice was selected as a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated book of the year. Geisert currently lives in a converted bank building in Bernard, Iowa.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story. A town in Wisconsin has a huge ball of string that they are very proud of. There is a flood one day and the ball of string is washed downriver. A town down river finds it and they try and keep the ball of string. The best part of the story is how the original town gets the ball of string back. The nephew loved how this worked. The nephew thought how the people got the string back was so smart and it made him laugh. It was quite inventive how they figured this out.

The nephew gave this book 5 stars. I told him that engineers do things like this. We are hoping he will become a engineer - making robots or whatever. I keep talking about what engineers do and he usually thinks it cool the stuff they do.

The people in the book are very inventive and use imagination to get their string back.

[Dayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book caught me off guard. I was not expecting the great story that came out of this one. A small town of porcine is super proud of their giant ball of string. One day it ends up floating down the river only to be found a few towns over. The townspeople decide to keep the string and seek fame and fortune from having the string on display. But the young inhabitants and rightful owners devise a plan to get their prize back.

The illustrations were very detailed and I think would catch the interest of a child who always wants to know how things work. Some of the illustrations bordered more on a diagram style.

We will certainly be checking out other works by this author.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A town of pigs have collected a giant ball of string. When the string is washed away in a storm and kidnapped by a nearby town, they come up with a nonviolent, creative, funny way to retrieve it.

My son and I really enjoyed reading this book together. The clear, detailed illustrations invite close examination, and the text told the story without being overly wordy.

The two books that we've read by Arthur Geisert so far both feature pigs and Rube Goldberg machines. I enjoyed this book more than Lights Out because it had a story as well as a machine.

[Kathy Ellen Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun book.
It's about a giant ball of string,
which, is kind of ridiculous.

But the town that owns it
is SERIOUS about laying claim to it.

When it floats down the river in a flood and ends up in another town,
the plan to get it back is pretty complex and equally serious.

The illustrations are sweet and it's a fun, wacky story.
Give this one a try!

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids loved this book. They story is clever, but mostly what is clever about the book is the ingenuity of the characters. I love how the author introduces mechanical engineering into the story as the characters employ scientific techniques to solve their problem.

[Congetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

What was interesting about this book was the level of detail that went into the planning to retrieve back the string. My son really enjoyed that part and was impressed. He cheered for the youngsters.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather than words and reason, these piggies use a sort of a Rube Goldberg rig to retrieve their precious ball of string from a town who wishes to claim it as their own.

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for mechanically minded students. It was a little bit confusing...it would be good to relate to a war. Boys might like this better than girls. Could be used to teach cause and effect.

[Colby Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is wild.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um... I really didn't love this book. Sure, the mechanics behind the story were great, and I'm not saying they should be there, but I was hoping for a most positive resolution for both towns.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Arthur Geisert isn't just the best maker of etchings to ever grace the pages of picture books. (Far as I know.)

* He's the greatest champion of pig art, as it were.

* And there's more.

Sometimes his picture books don't even have words, since the pictures tell such a complete story.

Now, here's this magnificent Geisert saga where, right from the start, we readers are reminded of what a powerhouse writer he is.

ROLL THIS LEDE SENTENCE AROUND IN YOUR EARS AND MIND, GOODREADERS:

For generations, the youngsters of Rumpus Ridge had collected string.

And thus begins a kid-sized, thrilling adventure. It ends with justice for those who thought they could keep their "ill-gotten ball of string." Ha!

Bravo once again, Arthur Geisert! And thank you.

[Alyssa]

3.75

[Amanda Walz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on getting revenge and taking back what is yours.

[Mitchell Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

So if someone steals from you, it is okay to blow up the dam to a rival town?

[Rodopa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever, but would not remember it in the long run.

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Perfect for mechanically minded youngsters. Good fiction companion for The Way Things Work

I love Geisert and his clever little piggies!!!

[Gps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although i did not like the underlying premise of the story (one group stealing from the piggies), i enjoyed how the inventive piggies employed some scientific principles to recover their beloved ball of string. this is a story that calls for patient reading, and pausing to speculate on what might happen next.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging story of how some resourceful pigs get back their giant ball of string from a rival town. While the illustrations are drawn from a very wide angle making the action seem small on the page, it's really quite neat if you look carefully at what is going on.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations!
Pigs and a giant ball of string.....what's not to love?

[Elizabeth]

As seen in the New York Times.

[Lee Huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great example of fabulous problem solving!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpectedly enjoyable.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like these mostly wordless books. Arthur Geisert has created a nice little series of entertaining books! Illustrations are very detailed and fun to look at. Older kids.

[Rylan S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly entertaining story about a plot to steal back a beloved ball of string; beautiful and detailed illustrations!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarre

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another clever piggie adventure!

[Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favourite picture book!