ベンジャミンのたからもの

by Garth Williams

One beautiful morning, Benjamin Pink packs a basket full of lettuce and radish sandwiches, waves good-bye to his wife, Emily, and sets off for a day of fishing. Unfortunately, not only are the fish not biting, but this happy rabbit is about to encounter a major storm. Washed ashore on a desert island, Ben starts making a shelter while awaiting rescue. To his great surprise, he discovers buried treasure, and now, in addition to getting himself home, he needs to find a way to transport the treasure chest. With high hopes of becoming the hero of his hometown ("presents for everyone on Clover Hill... free lettuce for the needy"), Ben disregards the advice of a turtle he meets to ditch the treasure ("You will worry about it day and night. Your friends will become jealous and you will suspect everyone"). But can he have his bejeweled cake and eat it too?

Adapted from Garth Williams's 1951 novel, The Adventures of Benjamin Pink, this delightful picture book was a labor of love for illustrator Rosemary Wells (of Max board books fame), who also added color to the original black-and-white illustrations. She carefully colored each drawing using the exact paints available to Williams in the '50s, in a palette chosen from his color work in other books. A splendid way to revive a classic! (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

JP Oversized

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

Garth Montgomery Williams was an American artist who came to prominence in the American postwar era as an illustrator of children's books. Generations of children picture their favorite fictional characters as drawn by Garth Williams. Thus the unforgettable dapper mouse, Stuart Little, or the kindhearted spider, Charlotte and her pig friend, Wilbur. And many other animals (bears, dogs, kittens, crickets) fantastic creatures (elves, fairies) and children and grown-ups in books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, George Selden, Charlotte Zolotow, Else H. Minarik and many others. Garth Williams was also the writer of seven children's books, like Baby Farm Animals, but it is primarily as an illustrator that he will always be remembered. His most controversial book was Rabbit's Wedding, written and illustrated by him in 1958, for it stirred racial issues.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A happily married rabbit sets out for a day's fishing but is swept away by a storm and stranded on an island.

This was adapted from Williams' longer story "The Adventures of Benjamin Pink by Rosemary Wells, who also added color to the original black-and-white illustrations.

[Aneesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moralistic

[Friend of Pixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is apparently adapted from Garth Williams's 1951 novel, The Adventures of Benjamin Pink. "This delightful picture book was a labor of love for illustrator Rosemary Wells (of Max board books fame), who also added color to the original black-and-white illustrations. She carefully colored each drawing using the exact paints available to Williams in the '50s, in a palette chosen from his color work in other books."

We enjoyed the sweet story of Benjamin going out to fish, getting caught in a storm, ending up on a desert island and discovering treasure. Trouble is, how to get it home. With some help from a turtle, a porpoise, and a shark, he does get home and discovers in the process what he really values. Logan really loved the pictures (who doesn't love Garth Williams?) and the story was funny and nice. The only reason I give it 3 instead of 4 stars is that I think it would have been a lot more engaging in it's original form. It does seem a bit choppy. It may be that I'm just prejudices against abridgement, but there it is. I plan to try to find a used copy of the original.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garth Williams illustrations of (humanoid) rabbits? Check. A charming adventure story? Check.
My son, seeing his namesake, immediately sat down to read it himself. However, this seems to be a read-once for him; perhaps if he were younger, he might have enjoyed it multiple times. Should play well with fans of other Garth Williams books and with Richard Scarry fans.