Peg And The Yeti

Peg

by Kenneth Oppel, Barbara Reid (Illustrator)

Peg, who was born on the bright blue sea, figures she’s spent enough time sloshing around the bottom of the world. She’s determined to climb the world’s tallest mountain, because, as she’s heard, the view is quite something. Despite the warnings of other climbers -- “You’ve got no gear!” “There’s wind storms!” “They say there’s a monster up the Yeti!” -- Peg continues to climb. Several close encounters with a grumpy Yeti don’t discourage Peg one bit, especially when she finds the Yeti has a yen for her tasty pork scruncheons. Now Peg wants to get onto the summit, but the Yeti won’t go away. Mega-selling children’s lit stars Kenneth Oppel and Barbara Reid have teamed up to create a rollicking tall tale, where a feisty heroine never misses a beat in her quest to climb a mountain and make a friend. An outrageous story that kids will love, plus vibrant Plasticine illustrations, add up to a surefire hit!

Genres: Picture Books, Canada, Childrens, Yeti

31 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 2004

About the author

I was born in 1967 in Port Alberni, a mill town on Vancouver Island, British Columbia but spent the bulk of my childhood in Victoria, B.C. and on the opposite coast, in Halifax, Nova Scotia...At around twelve I decided I wanted to be a writer (this came after deciding I wanted to be a scientist, and then an architect). I started out writing sci-fi epics (my Star Wars phase) then went on to swords and sorcery tales (my Dungeons and Dragons phase) and then, during the summer holiday when I was fourteen, started on a humorous story about a boy addicted to video games (written, of course, during my video game phase). It turned out to be quite a long story, really a short novel, and I rewrote it the next summer. We had a family friend who knew Roald Dahl - one of my favourite authors - and this friend offered to show Dahl my story. I was paralysed with excitement. I never heard back from Roald Dahl directly, but he read my story, and liked it enough to pass on to his own literary agent. I got a letter from them, saying they wanted to take me on, and try to sell my story. And they did.

Reviews

[Jennifer Rayment · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake's Review: The pictures are really funky but I found the story kind of stupid. The Yeti was cool though!

Jake's Rating: 6/10

Mom's Review: I'm not a fan of the Peg series as I find her a bit irritating, but Reid's illustrations really make up for it. She is truly a unique illustrator. The storyline is cute and I can see young girls being a fan of Peg as she can do anything, which is a nice message, but in general not my favorite picture book.

Mom's Rating: 6/10

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this today to a group of 10 year olds.What a fun read aloud. They were spell bound. Borrow or buy and read. You will not be able to retain a serious face and will love Peg , nine year old adventurer.I bought this book for the Barbara Reid plasticine illustrations but love,love this intrepid child heroine.

[MostlyDelores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peg's brisk, no-nonsense capability is tremendous. She's like a worldly great-aunt in the body of a ten-year-old girl.

[Cheryl]

Not Found

[Jeanine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story is awkward. Artwork is beautiful.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of my favorite Canadian authors co-wrote a book and I only just found it. With a story by Kenneth Oppel and her trademark plasticine illustrations by Barbara Reid, this is an amazing story. Young Peg has grown up in a fishing community, fishing with her mom and dad, so this is an adventuresome 8 year old. She decides she has spent her whole life sloshing around on the sea so she decides to climb the highest mountain. She encounters storms, avalanches and even a Yeti. She has a wonderful adventure and returns home with lots of stories and even a new friend. The dust jacket on the hard cover edition even unfolds into a wonderful poster.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for the wonderful art by Barbara Reid, three for the story with not the most likeable protagonist.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I am reading all of the author's books.

This is the second in the adventures of Peg series. Peg likes things that are big and best and this time she decides to climb Mt. Everest. Told in the format of a tall tale this is a fun, over-the-top adventure that will have kids laughing at the unbelievable abilities Peg is capable of. Her Yeti encounter starts off a little frightening but Peg soon turns the monster into a teddy bear and her fun doubles as he joins her on the trip back home. The book ends with Peg ready for another adventure and we see her on what looks like a fishing boat headed down the Amazon, leaving the book open for a sequel which Oppel has chosen not to follow up on.

This book would not be what it is without the artwork of one of Canada's leading picture book illustrators, Barbara Reid. Reid works in Plastoscene 2D sculptures that are intricate and detailed. One can feel the texture and almost see the images coming off the page. Any book illustrated by Reid is worth picking up for her art alone. I saw her once on the kids' TV show "This is Daniel Cook"and she was amazing to see in action.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find the Peg series rather boring. It's a good example of a strong girl achieving anything she sets out to do, but that's about all I can say for the story. The illustrations, however, are incredible! Oppel was lucky to get paired up with Barbara Reid, whose plasticine figures are the only thing to distinguish this story from Peg & the Whale. The detail Reid puts into the illustrations is remarkable. Reid's work is imaginitive and interesting; Oppel's is not.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 5 year old loved this book. They read it at summer camp and then he insisted I buy it for him right away. Ye loved the clay sculpture artwork. The action. And the of course the yeti.

[Beth Bauman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was delightful! And I love Barbara Reid's pictures. :)