Tres historias extravagantes

by Margaret Atwood

Juegos de palabras y aventuras imposibles plagan estos tres ingeniosos cuentos de Margaret Atwood, ilustrados por Dušan Petričić. Los lectores quedarán cautivados con Ramsey, Bob y Vera y las increíbles hazañas que logran levar a cabo.

Las ingeniosas historias de esta experta narradora de cuentos divertirán a lectores de todas las edades mientras se les traba la lengua con tantas aliteraciones.

Una joya para todas las edades de la aclamada autora de El cuento de la criada.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Childrens, Humor, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Fantasy

80 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.

Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth ­ in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.

Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.

Reviews

[Ammar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks for the House of Anansi for this ARC of this book.

Three stories together for the first time in a single volume. Written by Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Dusan Petricic

The three tales are aimed for children between 8 and 10 years old. I enjoyed them especially the wordplay and way some letters were prominently used through out each story.

Atwood writes
" Ramsay, Rillah and Ralph the red-nosed rat rambled all over the recently restored but romantic rectory. They reviewed the rotunda, which had a wide range of purloined reading materials..."

I think this is a fine example of juvenile fiction and hope many would enjoy the words and illustrations.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alliterative silliness in three separate stories about a child who has an adventure. Amusing stories and upstanding kids, and I loved the variety of vocabulary Atwood liberally uses in each tale.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading A TRIO OF TOLERABLE TALES by Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Dusan Petricic. The alliteration was delightful and I think that many 8 to 12 year olds would laugh and notice if someone read these tales aloud to them.

"Atwood' prose is both amusing and enlightening in its use of rich vocabulary."
- Kirkus Reviews on "Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes"

"...this fractured fairy tale retells the Cinderella foundling story with wild wordplay..."
- Booklist on "Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda"

"Wordplay and outrageous adventures rule the day in these three hilarious stories...
In "Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes,"Ramsay runs away from his revolting relatives....And in "Wandering Wenda," the heroine and her woodchuck companion have to find a way to outsmart Widow Wallop."
- Quote on inside flap of book cover

[Teresa Osgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously silly stories, liberally littered with alliteration.

[natura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tres divertidas historias en las que Atwood juega con el lenguaje de forma simpática y absurda. Esas aliteraciones tienen que ser una pesadilla para sus traductores.

[Liliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Son tres relatos infantiles, con mucho sentimientos, emoción y la manera en que están escritos, lo hacen divertidos.

Las historias de por sí, no son nada fuera de lo común pero a su vez son personajes diferentes los protagonistas.

Estuvo bien pero no es nada memorable, ni creo que vuelva a leer estos relatos.

[Gacela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy muy divertido cómo juega con el lenguaje (y vaya versatilidad la de Atwoos escribiendo esto tan marcadamente distinto de sus obras adultas). Mencionar también el súper currazo que se ha marcado el traductor que según el relato va usando palabras que repiten determinados sonidos en unas aliteraciones muy chulas. Me parece un mérito enorme conseguir replicar al traducirlo en otro idioma esa sonoridad que es eje del libro y de su chispa divertida. Es Marcelo E. Mazzanti quien viene acreditado como traductor, así que chapeau también por este trabajazo.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4.5 STARS

I love Dušan Petricic's artwork! Since I read his picture book, Family Tree I have been a fan. So when I saw that he had teamed up with Margaret Atwood (a hit or miss with me) I knew I had to take a closer look at this one. I learned that these "trio of terrible tales" had two tales (the first two in the collection) that were published on their own in 2003 and 2004. The last one tale seems to be a newer version. (Not included in this volume but another tale for children is Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut written in 1995). I loved that the tales are mostly told in alliterations. It is clever and witty and recommend to children and adults alike.

[Gretchen Bernet-Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who’d have thought! Margaret Eleanor Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and more than forty other books of fiction, poetry, critical essays and a graphic novel has written children’s books. The most recent A Trio of Tolerable Tales features three stories - Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes; Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda; Wandering Wenda and Widow Wallop’s Wunderground Washery.

First, I followed the adventures of Ramsay and Ralph the red-nosed rat as they traverse various repulsive obstacles to find a round, Roman-vaulted rat hole leading to round red radishes ready to be devoured. Next came Bashful Bob who was abandoned in a basket outside a beauty parlour and nobody claimed him but a beagle, a boxer and a borzoi become his best buddies. And finally there is Wenda, a willowy child with wispy hair and wistful eyes, whose parents are whisked away by a weird whirlwind and thereafter Wenda wanders aimlessly. She makes friends with Wesley woodchuck and they share an adventure.

I chuckled at the profuse, idiosyncratic wordplay and marvelled at these tongue-twisting tales. Serbian Dušan Petričić illustrations are gorgeous and Atwood’s alliteration is absolutely awesome!

More info and images on my blog https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2018/...

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Premise/plot: A Trio of Tolerable Tales is a collection of three short stories—or tales. The stories are Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes, Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda, Wandering Wenda. Each story is premise driven. This is how I imagine the book’s origin: I dare you to write a story using alliteration! Atwood: I accept that dare! I’ll write THREE stories and show you who’s boss!

Each story is an adventure if you define adventure loosely. The characters aren’t really shaped in any traditional way—the characters , the plot, everything is driven by the need to start with a particular letter. In the first story, it’s the letter r with a few wr words thrown in. In the second it is the letters b and d. In the final story, it’s the letter w.

My thoughts: If the use of obscure or mostly obscure vocabulary words matters more to you than story, sense, or characters...then do I have a book for you. There’s nothing wrong with premise driven books, I just wish it wasn’t marketed to young readers. I doubt that a new reader—say second grade—would have the patience to endure such a tedious, no, TOLERABLE book. The more reluctant a reader is, the worse this one will go. I do see it being appealing to the Matilda-like and Amy-like precocious and voracious reader.

But essentially I don’t recommend this one to most young readers. It would be a tiresome read aloud, I imagine.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A Trio of Tolerable Tales" collects together a few of Margaret Atwood's short stories for children along with charming and silly illustrations by Dusan Petricic. This is a quick funny read, but I know it would be best appreciated as a read-aloud. I forsee this being shelved in with early chapter books, but being Atwood, the language can be quite dense. The charm is in the conceit, carried throughout the entirety, of alliterating the stories to match the characters: Rude Ramsay resides in a ramshackle residence with revolting relatives and requires respite; Bashful Bob is abandoned to bear up on his own, believing he is a "buppy"; and Wenda wanders woefully until she is scooped up by a washerwoman. This seems like a book that might become a curriculum staple in elementary school classrooms as teachers struggle to alleviate alliterative abashment.

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this quite the amusing book. Atwood draws heavily from Roald Dahl in these three tales but since I love Dahl, it only added to the charm. Children will love these tales and how they pop off the tongue. The illustrations are beautiful, even if they are in black and white.

Thank you to Margaret Atwood, the publisher and Goodreads for giving me a paperback copy (won it in a Goodreads giveaway) in the hopes I'd review it.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what age/s this is angled at but Atwood goes overboard with her 'wordplay' here - essentially just rolling out the repetition of sounds - and it's tour-de-force of course, but exhausting all the same. It's more the inner workings that goes into solving a maths problem than it is a set of stories. Dizzying.

[CharityJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

A more apropos title there has never been. These really were just tolerable. It's three short stories in which each story focuses on a different letter and nearly every word in the story starts with that letter: R, W, B and D. It's a maddening amount of alliteration! The characters are just awful in a Roald Dahl kind of way. Unless you like tolerable stories, skip it.

[Maggie Ignasiak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome read that proved, without a doubt, (as if I had any doubts, because I definitely didn't) that Margaret Atwood is a master. She uses amazing alliteration throughout the entire book. Everything fits perfectly. It honestly makes it a pretty challenging read. This would be a great classroom tool for learning about alliteration and literary devices.

[Paulina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is intended to be read out loud for sure, it's silly and funny for kids while adults will definitely see a bit deeper into the stories. The alliteration is incredible and the inventiveness of the stories are definitely something to marvel at. I would read this to my future children for sure. :D

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of three wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated short stories. Each story tells a tale of adventure and friendship using alliteration and wordplay. Although at times challenging (read annoying!) to read for the adults, these stories are fun, silly and whimsical and really great for vocabulary building. Sure to be a hit with the 8-10 year old crowd.

[MaryJane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Words, wonderful walks with words! Three short alliterative tales waiting to be read aloud. My favorite was the tale of Wandering Wenda wearing her well-worn woven worsted sweater as she and her woodchuck friend are whisked into a laundry by the Widow Wallop.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is made up of three short stories, all of which amazingly showcase alliteration throughout them. Each of the storylines is clever and all of the tales have humorous components upper elementary children would love. I even learned some new words!

[Sandy Sopko · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing amalgamation of alliterative words! An ambitious assortment of nouns and adjectives! Atwood is no amateur! ... OK, I'll stop -- but I cannot wait to read these delightfully alliterative stories to my students, and won't they want to create parodies!

[Melanie Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Trio of Tolerable Tales-Margaret Atwood
Read aloud to the kids. They loved it. A quick read with great illustrations



I received this book through Goodreads

[Candace Worrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Take the title literally.

[Kasey Keeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda cute, probably fun to read aloud, but ultimately heavy on gimmick and light on substance.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atwood by way of Roald Dahl. I read the first one out loud to my cat and all of the R sounds really highlighted my hick accent. :/

[Lauren Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the alliteration super distracting. But the stories were funny. I could see this being useful to teach alliteration, word choice, rich vocabulary...

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three exhaustingly alliterative stories.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read aloud for middle grade. Make sure you know what's coming up because lots of tongue twisters. Reminds me of Roald Dahl crossed with Dr. Seuss.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be PERFECT for teaching alliteration!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such fun alliteration!

[Allison Hammond · Rating 2 out of 5]

It could be a fun exercise for middle schoolers, to write stories all in alliteration. But it's not an enjoyable reading experience, even with Atwood's imagination and wit.