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Pierre Pidgeon
Pierre liked to build ship models, but most of all he wanted the boat-in-the-bottle in Mr. LeClerc's store.
43 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1943
90 people want to read
About the author
Lee Kingman
37 books8 followersMary Lee Kingman Natti, who published under the name Lee Kingman, was a writer of children's and young adult books usually set in New England, many specifically in Cape Ann, where she lived most of her life.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 6, 2019
I really don’t like the art in this book. I suppose it is a style, but it feels quick to me. I do, however, like the story.
It is set in Canada, Yeah, in Gaspe which is a peninsula. Pierre longs to own the ship in the bottle. It costs a whole dollar and he will never have that kind of money. Inflation, right. Well, a painter gives him a whole dollar for saving her from an ox in a field and she paints him. He buys the bottle and breaks the thing immediately. He is wondering how it was made and after the bottle breaks, he finds out the mystery.
It is a nice story. It’s funny as I’m also reading ‘you are a badass at making money’ and it’s all about manifesting what you want in life. This young boy, before the term manifesting was in vogue manifested what he wanted - a dollar and he got it. It’s an interesting coincidence.
The nephew gave this 2 stars. He said it was ugly.
It is set in Canada, Yeah, in Gaspe which is a peninsula. Pierre longs to own the ship in the bottle. It costs a whole dollar and he will never have that kind of money. Inflation, right. Well, a painter gives him a whole dollar for saving her from an ox in a field and she paints him. He buys the bottle and breaks the thing immediately. He is wondering how it was made and after the bottle breaks, he finds out the mystery.
It is a nice story. It’s funny as I’m also reading ‘you are a badass at making money’ and it’s all about manifesting what you want in life. This young boy, before the term manifesting was in vogue manifested what he wanted - a dollar and he got it. It’s an interesting coincidence.
The nephew gave this 2 stars. He said it was ugly.
November 7, 2012
I had to do an interlibrary loan to get a copy of this book, from Cameron University in Oklahoma, but it did come rather quickly, and I was impressed. This book won a 1944 Caldecott Honor award, along with "A Child's Goodnight Book," which I also enjoyed. Pierre lives in the French Canadian region of Gaspe. His father is a fisherman, and his mother bakes bread to sell to tourists to supplement their income. Pierre enjoys driving a dogcart, sailing on his father's boat and build ship models. But he is blown away by the ship in the bottle at the general store, and can't imagine how one could get inside. Mr. LeClerc, the store's owner says he will sell the boat-in-a-bottle for one dollar, which is more than Pierre thinks he will ever earn, until he saves a tourist lady and she gives him a dollar in appreciation. He runs to the store to get the boat, but his over-eager dog Genevieve breaks the bottle accidentally. Pierre is heartbroken, until he figures out how to insert the unbroken ship into a new bottle and runs to go tell his friend Mr. LeClerc. This book was rather cute story with tri-colored illustrations (orange, green and black). Recommended for ages 4-8, 3 stars.
November 19, 2019
Set on the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, 1944 Caldecott Honor Book Pierre Pidgeon follows the story of the eponymous Pierre, a fisherman's son who likes to create model ships, and who longs to know the secret of the model-ship-in-a-bottle that is for sale at Mr. LeClerc's general store. After unexpectedly earning some money from a lady painter who has come to the area to work, Pierre is able to buy the bottled ship, only to drop and break it when he arrives home. Now how will Pierre ever figure out how the ship got into the bottle?
Although the story here is engaging enough, the real star is the beautiful illustrations, which look to be done using some kind of block print (wood? linoleum?) method, with black, gray, green and pale orange ink. The result is artwork with a distinctive folk sensibility that feels quite well suited to the rural fishing village being depicted. Recommended to readers young and old who enjoy vintage picture-books, or who appreciate block-print art.
Although the story here is engaging enough, the real star is the beautiful illustrations, which look to be done using some kind of block print (wood? linoleum?) method, with black, gray, green and pale orange ink. The result is artwork with a distinctive folk sensibility that feels quite well suited to the rural fishing village being depicted. Recommended to readers young and old who enjoy vintage picture-books, or who appreciate block-print art.
October 5, 2017
The illustrations are definitely the best thing about this story, which was so forgettable I actually had to go back through the book again two days after I finished it to remember what it was about. The most interesting thing about the pictures is the figures’ facial features. Only their eyes are actually drawn onto their faces. Their noses, chins, and mouths are merely suggested by the shape of their faces. It’s amazing that the illustrator was still able to convey so much emotion without actually drawing in the lines of their mouths. I also absolutely love the picture where Henri the bull buries his face in the grass. The reader gets a real sense of the depth of the grass and can almost feel the texture of those leaves against his/her own face.
February 2, 2013
This book depends far more on its illustrations than the more wordy books that seem more common from this era, but the narrative about a Canadian boy is really what carries the book - the illustrations just don't have the punch or power they could. As a main feature of the the story is Pierre's longing for a ship in a bottle, it could give a young listener a window express what they long for, what disappoints them, what they have achieved - adult readers don't need to be directive or heavy-handed about this.
January 6, 2019
I've been paying attention to opening lines lately because they often give insight into a story. This one begins:
Pierre Pidgeon was seven years old, waiting to be eight. He lived in a part of Canada called the Gaspe, which is a large piece of land surrounded on three sides by ...
The kids love this story, and I like the fact that we see how a child entertains himself in the days before hi-tech gadgets. And, not once did Pierre ever say he was bored. This art did deserve a Caldecott.
Pierre Pidgeon was seven years old, waiting to be eight. He lived in a part of Canada called the Gaspe, which is a large piece of land surrounded on three sides by ...
The kids love this story, and I like the fact that we see how a child entertains himself in the days before hi-tech gadgets. And, not once did Pierre ever say he was bored. This art did deserve a Caldecott.
November 15, 2012
This is a cute story about a boy who wants to know how a ship got into a bottle. While I liked the story, the illustrations are really the best part. They are just beautiful with great color for the time period.
October 21, 2016
No pigeons. I feel cheated.
Features a little seven-year-old, almost eight-year-old kid whose father is a fisherman, but they don't make a lot of money, so his mother sells bread, which isn't really important to anything.
He likes to build model ships (they live on the ocean). He likes to go to the store where there is a ship in a bottle and stare at the ship in the bottle. But it's a dollar, which is so expensive for him, so he can't buy it.
He has an ox, and this woman comes, and the ox threatens the woman, and he helps the woman because it's his ox and the ox isn't really scary.
She paints a picture, and he keeps the ox away while she paints the picture, and the picture she paints is of him. She gives him a dollar, and he goes back to the store and buys the ship in the bottle. This is a very wordy, long story. He carries the ship home, refusing the box the storekeeper offers him.
When he gets home, his dog jumps on him and he drops it, breaking the bottle but not the ship. He couldn't figure out how the ship got in the bottle, and the store owner didn't know how the ship got in the bottle either. His father gives him a bottle, and then he goes, “Oh, if I bend the masts over, the ship fits in the bottle.” And then he uses a fish hook and he pulls the masts up, and it looks the same as it did before, and he's all proud about it. Then he goes back to the store and tells the person how it was made. The end.
So it's a really long, meandering story that doesn't go anywhere. The pictures are really in a style that nobody does anymore, kind of blocky and colorful but with only a few colors. Peach used for skin and skies, a grey and a black and an olive green. They're kind of okay drawings, or paintings maybe. It's a 1943 book. It's dated, it's old, and it's boring.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
Features a little seven-year-old, almost eight-year-old kid whose father is a fisherman, but they don't make a lot of money, so his mother sells bread, which isn't really important to anything.
He likes to build model ships (they live on the ocean). He likes to go to the store where there is a ship in a bottle and stare at the ship in the bottle. But it's a dollar, which is so expensive for him, so he can't buy it.
He has an ox, and this woman comes, and the ox threatens the woman, and he helps the woman because it's his ox and the ox isn't really scary.
She paints a picture, and he keeps the ox away while she paints the picture, and the picture she paints is of him. She gives him a dollar, and he goes back to the store and buys the ship in the bottle. This is a very wordy, long story. He carries the ship home, refusing the box the storekeeper offers him.
When he gets home, his dog jumps on him and he drops it, breaking the bottle but not the ship. He couldn't figure out how the ship got in the bottle, and the store owner didn't know how the ship got in the bottle either. His father gives him a bottle, and then he goes, “Oh, if I bend the masts over, the ship fits in the bottle.” And then he uses a fish hook and he pulls the masts up, and it looks the same as it did before, and he's all proud about it. Then he goes back to the store and tells the person how it was made. The end.
So it's a really long, meandering story that doesn't go anywhere. The pictures are really in a style that nobody does anymore, kind of blocky and colorful but with only a few colors. Peach used for skin and skies, a grey and a black and an olive green. They're kind of okay drawings, or paintings maybe. It's a 1943 book. It's dated, it's old, and it's boring.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
January 16, 2018
• 1944 Caldecott Honor Book •
I was looking forward to reading about pigeons, but alas, there are none, just Henri the ox and a dog named Genviéve. This is a cute story about a Canadian boy who really wants a ship in a bottle. He fortunes on just the right amount of money, but when Genviéve the giant Newfoundland dog jumps on him coming back from the shop, he drops it. He’s able to fix it, and I think this is a good lesson to rely on yourself and try to mend what is broken by learning something new. But I think another lesson is when the shopkeeper asks if you want your fragile glass ship in a bottle in a box, say yes! Especially when Pierre knows his dog jumps on people when he sees them.
The illustrations are great - especially the faces which are really minimal but convey a lot of emotion. The colors are ok, but I’m not a fan of murky green and peach.
Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted
I was looking forward to reading about pigeons, but alas, there are none, just Henri the ox and a dog named Genviéve. This is a cute story about a Canadian boy who really wants a ship in a bottle. He fortunes on just the right amount of money, but when Genviéve the giant Newfoundland dog jumps on him coming back from the shop, he drops it. He’s able to fix it, and I think this is a good lesson to rely on yourself and try to mend what is broken by learning something new. But I think another lesson is when the shopkeeper asks if you want your fragile glass ship in a bottle in a box, say yes! Especially when Pierre knows his dog jumps on people when he sees them.
The illustrations are great - especially the faces which are really minimal but convey a lot of emotion. The colors are ok, but I’m not a fan of murky green and peach.
Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted
August 10, 2016
This book came all the way from the Massachusetts College of Art with a special book strap on it. It was so precious and delicate to hold. I loved the story and the pictures and when it is time to study Canada, I will request this book again. Students will love it!
May 27, 2011
Fun story of figuring out something intriguing.
January 15, 2012
Review to come...
Special visit to the Minneapolis Central Library to view reference copy.
Special visit to the Minneapolis Central Library to view reference copy.
June 18, 2012
A story of Pierre Pidgeon, who longs to find out how a boat can get into a bottle (and to own one himself).
November 2, 2012
Check out my review at www.littlebooksontheprairie.wordpress...!
June 7, 2013
1944 Caldecott Honor
July 19, 2019
Quiet, home story in the tradition of Robert McCloskey. While the illustrations show a long past time, there is a lot here that is still relevant to kids today; the wonder over a ship in a bottle, the desire for something that seems unattainable, the disappointment over a broken treasure. I enjoyed this book and the way Pierre worked through his problems. This book is not at all what I expected from the title, though!
January 25, 2025
Excellent story (though it is difficult to find...I read it on the Internet Archoves webpage). A boy who loves boats and desires a boat in a bottle and the curiosity of how it was made.
Beautiful illustrations
Beautiful illustrations
August 4, 2019
Didn't like the illustrations or color palette. Got bored very quickly with the story.
July 12, 2024
Cute story about Pierre who happens to learn how one can “build” a ship inside a bottle. The illustrations feel outdated but have personality.
February 27, 2012
1944 Caldecott Honor
Favorite illustration: The two page spread where Pierre returns to his home after buying the ship in a bottle.
Favorite line: "Ah," said Mr. LeClerc, and smiled at Pierre. "There is only one way for ships to get inside bottles. They grow inside."
Kid-appeal today: I had high hopes for this book in the first few pages, because the illustrations were paired with only a few sentences of text each. It felt more like a "storybook" than others from the 1930s and 1940s. It let me down though as the text began to quickly get wordier and frankly, I found the story not very interesting.
Favorite illustration: The two page spread where Pierre returns to his home after buying the ship in a bottle.
Favorite line: "Ah," said Mr. LeClerc, and smiled at Pierre. "There is only one way for ships to get inside bottles. They grow inside."
Kid-appeal today: I had high hopes for this book in the first few pages, because the illustrations were paired with only a few sentences of text each. It felt more like a "storybook" than others from the 1930s and 1940s. It let me down though as the text began to quickly get wordier and frankly, I found the story not very interesting.
October 7, 2023
Disclaimer: this book is not about a pigeon named Pierre. Which I was glad about because the only book I can remember reading about a pigeon was dreadful.
A boy named Pierre wants to buy a boat in a bottle, but it costs an entire dollar. One day he is out with his ox, Henri, and he meets a woman whom he "saves" from Henri. She paints Pierre's picture and gives him a dollar. He goes to the store and buys the boat, but his dog causes him to drop it. He should have accepted the box the store owner offered him. Anyway, he figures out how to put the boat in another bottle, and the day is saved!
My favorite part about this story is the ox.
A boy named Pierre wants to buy a boat in a bottle, but it costs an entire dollar. One day he is out with his ox, Henri, and he meets a woman whom he "saves" from Henri. She paints Pierre's picture and gives him a dollar. He goes to the store and buys the boat, but his dog causes him to drop it. He should have accepted the box the store owner offered him. Anyway, he figures out how to put the boat in another bottle, and the day is saved!
My favorite part about this story is the ox.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews