read in 2002 - read in school with friends - better review to come
5 stars 194 this was one of my favorite books as a kid, but i never really ~got~ it because the love stories in it are SO messy. they do not follow conventional patterns, but do result in some really beautiful cross-species acts of solidarity. also, the art is gorgeous. four stars because there’s no queer characters. 194 This was the first book I ever read. I believe I was in elementary school and have loved it ever since. This book made me fall in love with reading. 194 Entertaining book, but I kept waiting for it to go somewhere, and it never really did. And a weasel falls in love with a fish. Crazy. 194 One of my favorite books as a kid. I revisited it as an adult and it held up. First things first, this is a story about relationships. Despite being sweet and sentimental, it doesn't feel hokey; the characters are interesting, their relationships are complex, and the word they inhabit is vivid. Also, the gorgeous illustrations help to bring the plot to life. At times it feels a bit like a graphic novel with the way the artwork and text work together. Great stuff. 194
Read in French (« Grand bal sous les pins »)
A beautiful animal tale, with unusual animals. Fun fact, in the French version, weasels are described as polecats (except their height, no many differences after all, weasels and polecats are both mustelids ^^)
Simply amazing ! 194 This was one of my family's favorite read-alouds. My younger son was 6 when we read it, and my older son was 8. All 4 of us really enjoyed the unusual and clever story, and it's also beautifully illustrated. We've been occasionally calling one of our cats a white-bellied weasel ever since. 194 A good story, just more bittersweet than I was expecting from a children's book. The premise of the story sounded funny so I wasn't expecting it to leave me kind of sad. I could see it being an interesting book to read with a kid and talk about some complicated life questions with. The story provided a lot of fodder for that without being over-the-top. 194 Oh for the love of weasels...this book is right up there with Wind in the Willows and Charlotte's Web. Set in the Wainscott Woods on Long Island, this story for the 7-12 year old crowd tells of Bagley Brown, Jr, Zeke, and Wendy... weasels living, loving, rescuing, & dancing it up in silly, scary, witty words and illustrations. Frogs, fish, turtles, and birds (both good and bad), plot twists you won't see coming, and did I mention...WEASELS...a great read alone or aloud. 194 20% DNF.
Ugh.
Ok. Points for weasels dancing. (Opening scene.) but after the opening scene? It’s all downhill.
1: the only female position is to be married or in impossible love.
2: the social outcast is the only one who is smart, and he’s “so much smarter” than anyone else.
3: the fish/weasel “impossible love” is supposed to be daring? Whatever.
4: if you were trying to be daring, maybe don’t set it up in formal New England class structures with cotillions and tea dances.
This story is supposed to be fantasy and evocative, but it reinforces class/gender structure and is gross.
Not for my kids. 194
While other young weasels dance under the pines, Bagley thinks about Bridget, the mesmerizing fish who lives in a pond down the brook from his den. Only a true hero can save Bridget from the gruesome death that awaits her'and this is exactly what Bagley, much to his own surprise, proves himself to be.
Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA)
100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1993 (NY Public Library)
1993 Pick of the Lists (ABA) The Wainscott Weasel