Jack Plank Tells Tales

New York, NY: Michael Di Capua Books, 2007. Hard cover. Good in good dust jacket. Ex-library. Jack Plank Tells Tales (Hardcover in CELL WRAPPED dust jacket condition good-ex-library book WITH THUS SUCH MARKINGS-COPYRIGHT 2007-FIRST EDITION ) by Natalie Babbitt (Author)--MICHAEL DI CAPUA BOOKS book review;... Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. Jack Plank Tells Tales (Hardcover in CELL WRAPPED dust jacket condition good-ex-library book WITH THUS SUCH MARKINGS-COPYRIGHT 2007-FIRST EDITION ) by Natalie Babbitt (Author)--MICHAEL DI CAPUA BOOKS book review; Well, Jack Plank isn't actually on board his pirate ship anymore, being a victim of cost-cutting measures--i.e., he got laid off. He now lives at a rooming house, where he manages to tell a story at dinner every night, always in connection with his ongoing efforts to find a new career (aided and abetted by a child, of course). I thought Jack Sparrow had spoiled me for every other pirate imaginable, but then I met Jack Plank and fell in love all over again. Not that Jack is glamorously bizarre; instead he is as kind and gently funny as a favorite uncle. Kids will just plain like the stories, based on premises such as a shipmate who turns into something rather more aquatic than a wolf on full-moon nights or the little girl on a deserted island who's been raised by seagulls. The delivery is so relaxed that when you're finished, you find yourself thinking back through the book as it slowly dawns on you what an amazing collection of stories this really is--all at a level that can be appreciated as a read-aloud by 5-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and everything in between. As for grown-up readers, they can enjoy Natalie Babbitt's notoriously superb craftsmanship. For example, pay attention to the snippets of clever commentary from the dinner guests following each tale. It is said that the best practitioners in any field make their art seem effortless, and this non-aggressive, non-flashy piece of writing fits the bill. True, Jack Plank Tells Tales doesn't have the deep-sea philosophical implications of the classic Tuck Everlasting, but it doesn't need them: it surfs the waves of human nature with a humor and grace and affection often sadly missing from today's children's books.