Strange Happenings: Five Tales of Transformation

by Avi

Children become cats and birds, a once-invisible young woman pieces herself back together, and the identity of a mysterious baseball mascot is uncovered--all within this eclectic collection from master storyteller Avi. By turns chilling, ethereal, and surreal, these thought-provoking tales are sure to engage anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to become someone--or something --else.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Animals

160 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Avi is a pen name for Edward Irving Wortis, but he says, "The fact is, Avi is the only name I use." Born in 1937, Avi has created many fictional favorites such as The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, and the Crispin series. His work is popular among readers young and old.

Reviews

[eyeless jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time in middle school and 2 of the stories (1 mostly in particular disturbed me) have stuck with me for about 15 years. I have been looking for it for years but part of me kinda thought I’d dreamt it. I was researching more last week and somehow finally stumbled onto this book and thought the cover seemed vaguely familiar, so I checked with my local library and we had it so I’m very excited to say the decade-long search is over!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another "Mom, you have to read this!" from my 6-year-old. And really, who can resist discussing literature with a cool kid?

Honestly, I loved that she loved it. Five stories with at least one decent twist each, and a couple of them surprised me. She'll be on to Ray Bradbury, Steven King and Clive Barker before I know it.

[spalanai ⛤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Most of the time, he doodled, stared out of the widow, or daydreamed, but about what he could not have said."

Definition of me.

Strange Happenings is a collection of five creepy tales written by Avi.

The writing style reminds me of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, (well, of course because it's children's AND super weird).

All of the stories are fast-paced and teach morals, beneath which there is a tint of paranormal power, I don't know, but while reading it you can clearly sense the presence of some unknown sinister being. So, even though it's intended for children, and not classified as horror, they are somehow dark.

Magical realism, witches, transformations... my favourite stories being 'Babette the Beautiful' (which teaches about the madness behind "flawless beauty") and 'The Shoemaker and Old Scratch' (which teaches not to turn away from a bargain, especially if it is with the devil).

"Souls and soles both will wear."
Reminded me of the pun in Julius Caesar.

A delightful read.
★ ★ ★ ★/5
As said, I recommend this to Coraline lovers.

⊹ . ⋆ ☽ ⋆ . ➶

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avi's short stories will intrigue readers and delight those who enjoy spooky settings, a shiver up the spine, an eerie or ironic twist. These tales build suspense without being horrific, a nice change of pace and a step up from Goosebumps!

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very well written, but very, very strange. It is a collection of five short, strange, and sometimes dark tales. Everything about the book is strange. Intriguing, but strange. Mysterious, in a strange way. It is very well written, though, so if you don't mind strangness or a little dark, I recomend you read this story.

[Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

theres like three stories in it and it is so cool my favorite story is theres this devil and a cat and it is an awsome book

[Emily Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, this book is a little more intense than it looks, and I suppose it serves me right for expecting less from Avi. However, when I ordered this I was honestly predicting some cute little spooky stories and nothing more. Instead, Avi whips out the crazies from his deep imagination for some truly spellbinding and even disturbing tales (that are still appropriate for children's literature, of course). Impressive, all the way. Avi hits everything from the modern day to the fairy tale to the historical, and each story is wonderfully different from the rest. The book is a quick read, the stories indeed short stories, but it truly is a fantastic, haunting collection. Highly recommended.

[Grace Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bunch of weird stories are in this book. Children become animals, a once-invisible woman pieces herself back together, and the identidy of a mysterious mascot is uncovered. All these are: STRAANGE HAPPENINGS!!!!

[Sarah B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book this morning and found the five tales in here very entertaining. They reminded me of fairy tales... except they are new, original ones. The stories are:

1. Bored Tom
2. Babette the Beautiful
3. Curious
4. The Shoemaker and Old Scratch
5. Simon

My favorite is the first one, where a boy and a cat switch bodies. It's not exactly an original idea but it's fun to read. The second tale is a twist on the 'emperor didn't wear any clothes' idea. The third one was also really good - another favorite of mine - and it's about a boy who is very curious about the mascot at the baseball game. The fourth one is another over used idea: outsmarting the devil. The last one is about birds. I liked that one least of all..it just rubbed me the wrong way: probably because it involves a hunter hunting birds.

But I do think kids will enjoy reading these stories. They are short, fast, full of action, have magic and mystery and most of them teach some kind of moral. A good way to introduce kids to older ideas from older stories but in newer up to date tales.

I also like the cover image. Ok I admit it: I like the cat on the cover!

[Iustina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an unsual, but interesting read. Five tales of transformation, each one with a moral at its core, giving you some food for thought. Overall the one lesson that "rules them all", from my point of view, is "be careful what you wish for".

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! Spooky bonechilling tales with wonderful twists.

[Farren · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child, Avi was one of my favorite authors, and this book reminded me why I love him so much. Strange Happenings is like Twilight Zone meets fairytale, both of which I love.

[Breshna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique tales for children.

[Azuri Valero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was full of interesting and magical stories! I recommend.

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

All-time fave middle grade book. Reread it to my students as a read aloud since they seem to be Steven king fans in training and they couldn’t wait for me to read every morning.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

some weird stories...mildly entertaining

[Kay Iscah · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 Cautionary Tales to darken the sleep of your tween. Avi is a very talented author. Most of these stories kind of had a moral to them, which makes the dark endings easier to take. I just didn't enjoy them that much. It's probably because the only likable protagonist is the one who has the worst fate...well, I suppose you could argue the Shoemaker's fate is worse, but he at least gets to live a long full life first.

I'm glad this is one of my free post-yard sale scores...it still has a $15 sticker on it, and I would have felt rather cheated by that despite the nice cover art (tis a hardback). They're worth reading, just not sure they're something I'd want to reread. "Bored Tom" the first story is probably the best in the bunch, which is how it earned the cover spot (it is a pretty cover). "The Shoemaker and Old Scratch" is worthy of Grimm's.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review at Booklikes.


It’s actually a pretty decent collection of stories. The two central themes are of transformation and are careful what you wish for, you just meant get it. The problem with the use of the second theme in some books is that taken too badly it can be seen as an endorsement of “maintain the status quo and conform”.

Avi is not one of these writers. The point isn’t conforming, but acknowledging the situation, dealing with it, and moving beyond it.

True, there is one story where the focus is just on transformation. It actually is a really funny, dark and very plausible story

[Christina (TinyTinaTales) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cute book. If I was younger I probably would have enjoyed these stories even more. I liked all of the stories especially the last one. I liked how simple it was to read and how quickly I got through it. Of course, since I'm older these stories didn't do as much for me as they would have when I was younger. But I did like the messages they provided. Overall, I thought it was written well and I did like it. I just had some issues with how obvious the stories were. I knew the direction they were going after reading maybe three or four pages into each story. Which that's okay. I still enjoyed it.

[Smile! :D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never listen to what a cat has to say!!!!!
Stay away from Mascots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beware that person behind the door!!!!!!!!
(Don't ask just read the book & you'll know what i mean!)
This book lives up to it's title the story's in hear are strange! I tell you the last chapter leaves you woundering "Would I ever make that same mistake?" That's my favorite chp! The whole book will make u second guess about simple things in life. Even if the story's are weird each chp has a life lesson.
I highly recomend this book to who ever likes mind blowing bed time story's!

[Monica Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this science fiction novel by Avi. It is well written and uses descriptive language, would be great to help build vocabulary in young readers. Children become cats and birds and get to experience what it would be like to be something else. Another woman who was invisible, becomes a human again. It's a nice collection of tales that weave together really well. This book would be perfect for middle school kids.

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just couldn't resist the cool cover.

***

Possibly not the best introduction to the writing of Avi for me. there was much I found amusing, but overall I found the stories a little to heavy-handed with the moralizing. I prefer my fairy tales to be less linear in cause and effect.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so interesting! A bit creepy, but I like that in books :)

[Amanda M. Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, simple retellings of older parables. Good stuff for the 8-12 group.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was enjoyable to read, but the stories were fairly predictable.

[Chazzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five different stories that are thought provoking. Eerie stories of kid life.

In "Bored Tom" a boy is bored with his life. He is bored with school, bored with his friends, bored with his family. To him watching TV and sleeping is all that interests him. When he is approached by a cat, he is given a choice to have the life he thinks would be great. But is it?

"Babette the Beauty" brings up the idea of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and what it can bring. When Queen Isabelle of Solandia decides she wants to have a daughter to follow in her footsteps, she visits an old crone deep in the north to have her wish granted. She desires a flawless child that is perfect in every way. When the child is born she is named Babette, and any one who sees her sees only beauty. The thing is, to allow no comparison to anyone else, the Queen bans mirrors from the kingdom, and instead has only paintings of the Princess around to show her beauty.

"Simon" is spoiled by his parents all his life. When he finally grows up and finds that his parents can no longer indulge him in his wants and wishes, he strikes off on his own. He becomes extremely successful and is able to buy whatever he wants. When he hears of a special and magical bird he determines he will have it. What he discovers when he does get it shows that greed is not a good thing.

Though written for children and an adult can read these short stories in one sitting, I found that I enjoyed taking a couple of days to read and think over the stories, the characters and the lessons that can be taken away.

Avi is a writer whose books I enjoy and find that there can be not only a good story but a little bit of stuff to think about.

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, we are friends. So, I shall not lie. I picked up this book because there was a cat on the front. Then I realized it was Avi.

But it sat on a shelf for a bit. I decided, because of the cat, it would be a perfect Autumn read.

I was right.

But, bonus? I LOVED it!!!

Not only was it wildly entertaining but it was filled with important life lessons both for youngins and not so youngins.

This book as a collection of short stories:
1. Bored Tom - 5 Stars
2. Babette the Beautiful - 4 Stars
3. Curious - 3 Stars
4. The Shoemaker and Old Scratch - 5 Stars
5. Simon - 5 Stars

The Shoemaker and Simon stories were so enjoyed by me that I dreamed about them. In my dream I was retelling both stories (to my cats).

The biggest lesson I learned from this book? Cats are not to be messed with. Seriously. They have no conscience. Little demons 😉

No, not every story is cat-centric. Just two. But they are all perfect “spooky” season reads. And no they are not spooky.

[Red · Rating 4 out of 5]

While these are some of both the weakest and most creative stories Avi has written, they bear many flaws and often are more like fables than short stories, in that, I'd say the term 'tales' is a correct one because these are indeed tales, tales that are very nice, give or take the one about Old Scratch, that one's very lacking and reads like some tale told over a camp fire by teen and less a tale told to teens.

Avi never fails to write at least several very creative and intriguing lines. He's a master with writing here, even if it's in flickers and sparks and not so much a full on flaming story lighting imagination in all who read this book.

On the plus side, this is a quick read, an hour or two and you're done, if not less. Nothing is lost by reading this book.

[Fyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this book didn't mess me up in the least.

Avi is one of the few authors who leaves me in complete suspense every time. I swear, I did not see anything in these stories coming. As the title says, each short story, all told in a very fairy-tale way, center around the theme of transformation-- human to animal and vice versa, hybrids, aliens, invisible princesses that must physically piece themselves together, and even a Faustian bargain. Some of these stretch the idea of transformation in interesting ways-- like how the terms of the bargain change over time in the mind of one of the parties, how experiences change people, and how our perceptions of others change. It's like if Ray Bradbury took to telling fairy tales.

The moral of two of these stories is watch out for cats, okay?

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at VOA one day because the cover and synopsis on the back caught my eye. It was my first time reading Avi and I must say I look forward to picking up his other works. These stories are easy to read but carry a certain complexity. Most of them have an “old-timey” vibe. They carry wisdom for our present day but beg of days past. I liked that each story, although similar in theme, was unique and different from the one before. My three favorite stories, in no particular order, are: Babette the Beautiful, The Shoemaker and Old Scratch, and Simon. It is definitely worth a read!