Bibliography
Steig, William. 1969. Sylvester
and the Magic Pebble. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN 0671662694
Sylvester, a young donkey residing with his mother and
father, enjoys collecting pebbles as a hobby. One rainy morning, while on
vacation, Sylvester finds what appears to be just a shiny red pebble. Sylvester
grew frustrated of the rain as he was admiring the rock, and wishes for the
rain to stop. Suddenly the rain stops. Sylvester attempts a few more wishes to
ensure the rain didn’t stop by coincidence. To his surprise, his wishes were
coming true. Sylvester takes the rock back on his journey home to show his
parents his discovery. Sylvester stumbles upon a lion, and due to fear, he
wishes he were a rock while holding the pebble. Sylvester turns into a rock, and realizes he
is in a predicament. Due to being a rock, and not having the ability to hold
the pebble, Sylvester worries he may never be able to see his parents again. His
parents mourn his departure as seasons come and go, and Sylvester is nowhere to
be found. During this time, Sylvester finds himself depressed and disheartened.
To create closure for themselves, Sylvester’s parents decide to go on a picnic.
To his father’s surprise, he finds a beautiful pebble next to their picnic
layout. Will Sylvester ever be found and restored back to being a donkey?
William Steig creates a fable that allows children to
distinguish the different emotions they may feel such as hopelessness, anxiety,
and happiness. William utilized anthromorphism to give each animal a
distinctive human-like appearance, behavior, and feelings. To enhance the
story, Steig creates illustrations that develop the story line using watercolors.
During moments of sadness and loneliness, the colors darken and create a mood
for the reader. For instance, when Sylvester is displaying his loneliness, snow
falls and gray hues are used in the illustrations that cover most of the page.
On the contrary, Steig creates the emotion of happiness for readers using colors
such as green and yellow.
With a dark black outline for each character, Steig creates
distinct characters that display detailed emotions. The sorrowful parents have
tears as well as an posture that indicates a dark, heavy feeling. The fable can spark a discussion with young
readers and provide a moral using animals to convey the message in a
light-hearted manner.
Caldecott Medal in 1970
Nominated for the 1970 National Book Award for Young People’s
Literature
Top 100 picture books by School
Library Journal
ALA Noteable Children’s book
From The Horn Book
Publications:
“A remarkable atmosphere of childlike innocence pervades the
book; beautiful pictures in full, natural color show daily and seasonal changes
in the lush countryside and greatly extend the kindly humor and the warm,
unselfconscious tenderness.”
Connections
Other books by William Steig:
Brave Irene ISBN 9780312564223
Amos & Boris ISBN
9780312535667
Ways to connect in the classroom:
Have students choose their own special pebble at the park.
Students can paint their special pebble, and describe what wishes they would
ask for. The writing prompt can begin with "If I had a magic pebble, I would wish for....."
Create sequence of events out of order, and have students
rearrange the sequence of events to fit the story.
Introduce character traits, and learn about different character traits Sylvester displays. Students can find text evidence of the character traits.
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