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Molasses Flood
"The molasses is coming!" On an unusually warm January day, a huge storage tank explodes, releasing a flood of molasses. The wave of molasses takes young Charlie Owen Muldoon's house, with him on top, on a fantastic ride down the streets of Boston. Written by Caldecott medalist Blair Lent. "This lighthearted book offers a pleasing blend of nostalgia and imagination." -- Publishers Weekly
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1992
14 people want to read
About the author
Blair Lent
25 books15 followersBlair Lent was an American author and illustrator of mostly Chinese-themed books, including the popular 1968 children's book Tikki Tikki Tembo. In 1973 he was awarded the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations of The Funny Little Woman, by Arlene Mosel. He also illustrated the book House of Stairs. Lent used a wide range of techniques in his illustrations, including acrylic painting, cardboard cutouts, colored pencil and ink and wash.
Born in Boston, Lent attended the Boston Museum School where he graduated with a degree in art in 1953, after which he went to Italy and Switzerland on a study grant. He worked for the Container Corporation of America designing labels for cans and worked for the Bresnick Advertising Company where he designed bank advertisements.
After receiving positive feedback from a juvenile-books editor at Atlantic Monthly Press, he put out Pistachio, a story published in 1964 about a green cow and a circus that he wrote and illustrated. Under the pen name of Ernest Small, he wrote the 1966 books Baba Yaga about a witch, and John Tabor's Ride, a fanciful yarn about a sailor from New England. Other works written and illustrated by Lent include 1987's Bayberry Bluff, Molasses Flood published in 1992 and his 2000 book Ruby and Fred.
Lent also did illustrations for other authors, some of which became his best-known works, such as the 1964 book The Wave by Margaret Hodges that adapted a story by Lafcadio Hearn, Arlene Mosel's 1968 Chinese folk tale Tikki Tikki Tembo, the 1968 book Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky based on an African folk tale as told by Elphinstone Dayrell, a 1968 retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl and Mosel's 1973 retelling of a Japanese folk tale The Funny Little Woman that won that year's Caldecott Medal. In 1997, Tikki Tikki Tembo was selected by The New York Times on its list of the 50 best children's books of the previous 50 years.
Lent's artwork had been contributed to the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota and the Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay, in Findlay, Ohio.
Lent was a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts and died at age 79 on January 27, 2009 of pneumonia in Medford, Massachusetts.
Born in Boston, Lent attended the Boston Museum School where he graduated with a degree in art in 1953, after which he went to Italy and Switzerland on a study grant. He worked for the Container Corporation of America designing labels for cans and worked for the Bresnick Advertising Company where he designed bank advertisements.
After receiving positive feedback from a juvenile-books editor at Atlantic Monthly Press, he put out Pistachio, a story published in 1964 about a green cow and a circus that he wrote and illustrated. Under the pen name of Ernest Small, he wrote the 1966 books Baba Yaga about a witch, and John Tabor's Ride, a fanciful yarn about a sailor from New England. Other works written and illustrated by Lent include 1987's Bayberry Bluff, Molasses Flood published in 1992 and his 2000 book Ruby and Fred.
Lent also did illustrations for other authors, some of which became his best-known works, such as the 1964 book The Wave by Margaret Hodges that adapted a story by Lafcadio Hearn, Arlene Mosel's 1968 Chinese folk tale Tikki Tikki Tembo, the 1968 book Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky based on an African folk tale as told by Elphinstone Dayrell, a 1968 retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl and Mosel's 1973 retelling of a Japanese folk tale The Funny Little Woman that won that year's Caldecott Medal. In 1997, Tikki Tikki Tembo was selected by The New York Times on its list of the 50 best children's books of the previous 50 years.
Lent's artwork had been contributed to the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota and the Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay, in Findlay, Ohio.
Lent was a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts and died at age 79 on January 27, 2009 of pneumonia in Medford, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 26, 2019
For a 1992 publication, this has a lovely old-style look and feel. Everything about it is just enough, never too much.
November 2, 2012
I was hoping to borrow the book Baba Yaga by Ernest Small from our local library. It appears that they don't have that book, but I noticed that a few books by Blair Lent popped up. I then learned that Ernest Small was a pseudonym for him.
We borrowed this book because I noticed that it was set in Boston. I love to expose our girls to books that feature New England settings. This book is an interesting and fantastic tale that is loosely based on an actual event.
The narrative is strange, but entertaining and the illustrations help to convey a Boston from an older era. We enjoyed reading this book together.
We borrowed this book because I noticed that it was set in Boston. I love to expose our girls to books that feature New England settings. This book is an interesting and fantastic tale that is loosely based on an actual event.
The narrative is strange, but entertaining and the illustrations help to convey a Boston from an older era. We enjoyed reading this book together.
November 24, 2018
This book enlightened me to something that I didn't know happened, and didn't know was even possible. When I began this book, I thought that this was just a fun little bit of historical fiction, that it was something funny and fantastical. Oh, I was wrong. And now that we're encroaching on the 100th anniversary of this event (that killed 50 people!), it seems fitting to share this with other people. Molasses Flood was a fun book and kept me entertained. This is a great book to read out loud to children!
Review cross-listed here!
Review cross-listed here!
March 22, 2021
If you're looking for a picture book that's dealing with the Boston Molasses Flood with only the faintest whiff of actually talking about the event, this one is it. It reads as sort of a silly (and slightly duller) Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs fantasy though and has next to no real facts.
October 26, 2017
Very beautiful illustrations! And a cute "alternate history" from a kids point of view.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews