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The Wonderful O
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The Wonderful O Hardback - 2009

by James Thurber

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Reader reviews for The Wonderful O

From the publisher

James Thurber (1894–1961) was one of the outstanding American humorists and cartoonists of the twentieth century. Thurber wrote nearly forty books: collections of essays, short stories, fables, and children’s stories, including The 13 Clocks, which is published in The New York Review Children’s Collection. His other books for children include: Many Moons (1943), a Caldecott Honor Book; The Great Quillow (1944); and The White Deer (1945).

 

Marc Simont (1915-2013) illustrated nearly a hundred books. He won a Caldecott Honor in 1950 for illustrating Ruth Krauss’s The Happy Day, and in 1957 he was awarded the Caldecott Medal for his pictures in A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry. He is the illustrator for The New York Review Children’s Collection books The Backward Day and The 13 Clocks.

Details

  • Title The Wonderful O
  • Author James Thurber
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition Later Edition
  • Pages 80
  • Language EN
  • Publisher New York Review Books
  • Publication date 2009-03-31
  • ISBN 9781590173091

Media reviews

"Handsomely reprinted, for children who can spell well, is James Thurber's 1957 story The Wonderful O, about a tyrannical pirate who bans everything on an island that contains the letter O - because his mother was once stuck in a porthole, with tragic consequences. Full of word lists and wordplay, with charming illustrations by Marc Simont, it is a verbally ambitious little classic for logophiles. Or, as the pirate would have it, lgphiles." --The Sunday Times (London)

"A playful allegory on love, valor and freedom, and a ceaseless romp with wordplay." --Publishers Weekly

"The Wonderful O, published in 1957, is a tale for children, and a reminder for adults, of the joys of love, liberty, language and, not least, humor. It has pirates and treasure and magic and a message that especially in complacent times must not be forgotten...The Wonderful O is a book worth finding, wherever you can, and reading, as one of its characters concludes, ‘lest we forget.’" –The Wall Street Journal
 
"Among James Thurber's 30 books were several for children. Two reader favorites of the Fifties, The Thirteen Clocks and The Wonderful O, have returned, illustrations by Marc Simont intact. These are funny, richly textured stories that pile on the fantasy and will make middle readers laugh a lot." –The Record (NJ)
 
"The Wonderful O and The 13 Clocks...witty, funny, imaginative tales which will earn Thurber a new generation of admirers. " –The Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate

“No one else could think up a fairy story, tale, legend, exercise or what have you, based upon ‘O’ alone. Certainly no one else could bring it off if he had. Mr. Thurber, however, can, did, and does. No more worthy ‘O’ words could go before The Wonderful O than another O Wonderful.” –Lewis Nichols, The New York Times

“A satirical adventure story about two scoundrels, one of whom has a violent dislike of the letter ‘O,’ and a search for buried treasure.” –Sam Zolotow, The New York Times

“A satire on dictatorship and a celebration of the spirit of freedom essential to the lively pursuit of happiness…The form of the story is wonderfully adroit.” –Charles Poole, The New York Times

“A prodigious performance. As a medium in the great séance of letters he is incomparable; he has only to utter an incantatory moan, and words levitate, phrases rap out unexpected messages, and whole sentences turn into ectoplasm.” –The New Yorker

“The loveliest and liveliest of parables. The end is a real surprise.” –Harper’s Magazine

“Excellent Thurber. Besides being a highly original fairy tale and a rollicking linguistic gambol, The Wonderful O is a still further fable for our time–perhaps the best and most serious that Thurber has written.” –New York Herald Tribune Book Review

“A dazzling feat of verbal virtuosity, with frequent lapses into interior rhyme.” –Library Journal

“While ostensibly for children who will love its wit, its rhythms, and its free-flowing imagination, it will speak irresistibly to older minds and funnybones and, one might add, heart.” –Boston Herald

“Perhaps the worthiest contemporary fabulist in English. His effects are almost musical. He gets us to laugh and gulp down another lesson in the value of human liberty at one end and the same time.” –San Francisco Examiner

“Pure and unadulterated Thurber, and that means Thurber at his zaniest. Not since Lewis Carroll has such foolishness masked such wisdom; and besides, it’s a gale of fun from start to finish.” –St. Louis Globe Democrat

“Like all good fables, it is told in simple language and in a manner children can delight in.” –Chicago Tribune

"Witty...extremely clever...It has a moral." –The Christian Science Monitor

“O, wonderful! James Thurber's grown-up kids' books, The Wonderful O and The 13 Clocks, long out of print, are back -- rich with ogres and oligarchs, riddles and wit. What distinguishes them is not just quixotic imagination but Thurber's inimitable delight in language. The stories beg to be read aloud...Thurber captivates the ear and captures the heart.” —Newsweek

“A disadvantaged world without O is amusingly imagined in James Thurber's 1957 children's book, The Wonderful O, about pirates who land on an island called Ooroo and tyrannically expunge their patron letter.” —Ottawa Citizen

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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)

The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)

by Thurber, James

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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)
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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)

by Thurber, James

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NYR Children's Collection. Used - Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)
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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)

by Thurber, James

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Simon and Schuster, 1957. hardcover. Very Good. 5x0x8. Simont, Marc. Stated first printing. Good condition. Jacket is slightly faded, and a little worn on spine. Binding tight, pages clean.
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The Wonderful O

by James Thurber

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New York Review of Books, Incorporated, The, 2009. Hardcover. Acceptable. Disclaimer:Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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The Wonderful O
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The Wonderful O

by Thurber, James

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New York Review of Books, Incorporated, The. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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The Wonderful O
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The Wonderful O

by Thurber, James

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781590173091 / 1590173090
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New York Review of Books, Incorporated, The. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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The Wonderful O
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The Wonderful O

by Thurber, James

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781590173091 / 1590173090
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Description:
New York Review of Books, Incorporated, The. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)
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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)

by Thurber, James

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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NYR Children's Collection, 2009-03-31. Main. hardcover. Used: Good. 5.80x0.40x8.40. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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The Wonderful O (New York Review Children's Collection)

by Thurber, James

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NYR Children's Collection, 2009. First Thus. Hardcover. Like New. First Edition Thus, First Printing. Not price-clipped ($14.95 price intact). Published by The New York Review, 1957. Octavo. Book is like new. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.
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