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メイヴィスのふしぎな赤ちゃん
うららかメイヴィスが落ちていたピーナツを食べようと殻を割ると、中にかわいい赤ちゃんがいました。村人たちは「赤ちゃんではなくて、イモ虫だ」などと言いますが、メイヴィスが大事に育てていくと…。すてきな奇跡の絵本。
JP Oversized
First published August 3, 2001
25 people want to read
About the author
Brock Cole
29 books30 followersBrock Cole was born a year before the Second World War in a small town in Michigan. Because of his father's work, his family moved frequently, but he never regarded these relocations as a hardship.
"I thought of myself as something of an explorer, even though my explorations never took me very far. I had a deep and intimate acquaintance with woodlots, creeks, lakes, back streets, and alleys all over the Midwest."
He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and received a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. After teaching philosophy for several years at the University of Wisconsin, he began writing and illustrating books for children.
"I had always wanted to write, and I loved to draw. I had small children, who were a wonderful audience. Children's books seemed a perfect fit."
His first book, The King at the Door, was published in 1979. Among his other picture books are The Winter Wren, The Giant's Toe, and Alpha and the Dirty Baby.
He now lives in Buffalo, New York, where his wife, Susan, teaches at the State University of New York. His sons both live in Athens, Georgia. Joshua teaches French history at the University of Georgia, and Tobiah is a painter and works as a waiter. Joshua is married to Kate Tremel, a potter and a teacher, and they have a little boy named Lucas.
Brock Cole's acclaimed first novel, The Goats, was published in 1987. It is set in the Michigan countryside of his childhood and captures the story of two loners' struggle for self-identity and inner strength after being made the targets of a cruel prank. In a Horn Book Magazine editorial, Anita Silvey wrote: "The Goats reaffirms my belief that children's literature is alive and thriving." Betsy Hearne, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, lauded The Goats as "one of the most important books of the decade."
In Brock Cole's second novel, Celine, sixteen-year-old Celine, a budding artist, is living with her young stepmother, only six years older than Celine herself, while her father is teaching in Europe. Celine dreams of escaping this situation, but she becomes involved with caring for Jake, her seven-year-old neighbor, who is going through his parents' divorce.
Since he began his writing career, Brock Cole and his wife have traveled a good deal, living for one year in Washington and another in Germany, as well as spending frequent summers in Greece and Turkey.
"To be honest, I simply tag along after Susan. It's her research which takes us all over the place. I enjoy it immensely, though. There's something about sitting down to work at a rickety table in a strange city that clears the head. It's the best thing for a writer, or for this one, anyway."
"I thought of myself as something of an explorer, even though my explorations never took me very far. I had a deep and intimate acquaintance with woodlots, creeks, lakes, back streets, and alleys all over the Midwest."
He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and received a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. After teaching philosophy for several years at the University of Wisconsin, he began writing and illustrating books for children.
"I had always wanted to write, and I loved to draw. I had small children, who were a wonderful audience. Children's books seemed a perfect fit."
His first book, The King at the Door, was published in 1979. Among his other picture books are The Winter Wren, The Giant's Toe, and Alpha and the Dirty Baby.
He now lives in Buffalo, New York, where his wife, Susan, teaches at the State University of New York. His sons both live in Athens, Georgia. Joshua teaches French history at the University of Georgia, and Tobiah is a painter and works as a waiter. Joshua is married to Kate Tremel, a potter and a teacher, and they have a little boy named Lucas.
Brock Cole's acclaimed first novel, The Goats, was published in 1987. It is set in the Michigan countryside of his childhood and captures the story of two loners' struggle for self-identity and inner strength after being made the targets of a cruel prank. In a Horn Book Magazine editorial, Anita Silvey wrote: "The Goats reaffirms my belief that children's literature is alive and thriving." Betsy Hearne, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, lauded The Goats as "one of the most important books of the decade."
In Brock Cole's second novel, Celine, sixteen-year-old Celine, a budding artist, is living with her young stepmother, only six years older than Celine herself, while her father is teaching in Europe. Celine dreams of escaping this situation, but she becomes involved with caring for Jake, her seven-year-old neighbor, who is going through his parents' divorce.
Since he began his writing career, Brock Cole and his wife have traveled a good deal, living for one year in Washington and another in Germany, as well as spending frequent summers in Greece and Turkey.
"To be honest, I simply tag along after Susan. It's her research which takes us all over the place. I enjoy it immensely, though. There's something about sitting down to work at a rickety table in a strange city that clears the head. It's the best thing for a writer, or for this one, anyway."
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 17, 2018
Every once in a while, a friend comes to our house for a play date, and this book goes "missing." I never make accusations; I simply accept the inevitable and re-order a new copy.
I can't recommend this delightful book enough for a St. Patrick's Day gift, or for any other day of the year.
Every child should own a copy, even if they're forced to steal one!
I can't recommend this delightful book enough for a St. Patrick's Day gift, or for any other day of the year.
Every child should own a copy, even if they're forced to steal one!
December 29, 2014
One of my favorite children's picture books. Sweet story with some great messages. It's hard to find because it's no longer in print, I believe. I've been trying to get it from the library so that my youngest can enjoy the story, but I haven't been able to find a copy at the library. I just ordered a used copy from Amazon, because I want it on my kids' bookshelf. If you have kids, get this book, everyone will love it! It's about this homeless woman who lives on the outskirts of town, she's always "mooning about", and she finds a "baby" in a peanut shell and struggles to raise it. Fun ending, I don't want to give it away.... Holy Moly, I just found out the author of this book used to teach Philosophy at the UW - Madison. No wonder I love this book. Cool!
September 10, 2015
I was expecting this book to be a lot like Brock Cole's other book, 'Buttons,' because it has the same illustrator and you know, the same author. But no, it's not like it at all. It is the weirdest book I've ever read. I don't get it.
April 3, 2009
A simple little story of a simple woman and her 'find'...a cleverly told and beautifully illustrated book, with an uplifting ending, really!
June 11, 2013
what an odd book. not bad, just strange.
May 14, 2016
Larky Mavis finds 3 peanuts, the third contained something everyone, except Mavis, saw differently. The wonderful tale reminds us that we live and create the reality we want, it is all from within.
December 23, 2016
Larky Mavis is my kind of girl!
July 15, 2020
Beautifully written but very odd kids book rife with religious overtones and very sad in the end. Mavis is a young girl of the early 19th century who, while eating peanuts, finds a baby worm inside one peanut shell, or so she believes. She shows the mysterious "creature" to townsfolk, who ignore her at first, then rethink their opinion and now they want a piece of what Mavis got. It ends with Mavis totally surrounded by nosy people and whoosh, the creature is a winged angel carrying Mavis to another world far from this one. As I said, sad, like Little Match Girl sad. Sniff.
Three stars
Mavis, she won't know a better way. But we do.
Three stars
Mavis, she won't know a better way. But we do.
May 10, 2023
Another delightful tale from Cole in a folk-lore style. Everyone in town believes that Larky's "baby" is a worm, a mouse, or a bat. What it really turns out to be astonishes everyone. Love Cole's loose and free-flowing illustrations.
January 3, 2025
Lovely illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews