A Tale of Two Beasts
by Fiona Roberton
Kane Miller, 2015
review copy provided by the publisher
I have a whole collection of books that have two stories that dovetail in the middle. This one is similar, but instead of dovetailing, it has two parts, each told from a different point of view.
In the first part, a little girl discovers a strange beast stuck in a tree in the forest. She rescues it, takes it home, feeds it, dresses it, walks it, and shares it with her friends. The minute she opens the window, the beast runs away. Later that night, when the little girl is lying awake in her bed trying to figure out where she went wrong, the beast comes back.
In part two, a small furry forest animal (maybe a squirrel?) tells the story of being "ambushed by a terrible beast!" This beast ties him up and carries him away to her lair where he is subjected to any number of indignities. Finally, when she opens the window, he is able to escape. Later that night, when he is hanging upside down from a tree in the forest, he realizes that there might be a reason to go back.
Same story, two different points of view. Is there one beast in this story, or are there two? Depends how you look at it!
A fun book for children of any age who are working to understand point of view.
Would the original picture book of The Pain and The Great One by Judy Blume count? The story is told in one direction from the point of view of the little brother (the Pain) and the other way from the point of view of the big sister (The Great One), with both reaching the conclusion that their parents love the other child better.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Charlotte Zolotow's "When I Have A Little Girl..." flips over to be "When I Have A Little Boy..."