Heckedy Peg

Loved this book as a kid! Now that I’m older it seems a little on the dark side for kids, but still a favorite years later.

Beautiful illustrations. I loved it as a child and love it still.

The books written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by her husband Don Wood do not get much better. Heckedy Peg is no exception. The sources of this particular story go back to the 16th century and they are presented in this work in a Grimm Brother's type format and mode...pure folk tale, both in telling and in illustration. This is the story of a poor mother living near a small village with her seven children. The children are named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One day the mother must make a trip to the local market and informs her children that as they have been good, she will bring them each a present; their choice. Each choose and request an item. The mother then gives them stern warning that they are not to let any strangers in the house and they are not to touch the fire. Upon this, she departs. Of course it is not long until an old woman shows up, a witch, an evil witch, and as the children are playing, she asks them if she can come in and light her pipe from the fire. At first the children refuse, but the witch informs them she has lost her legs; still to no avail, but when she offers gold, the children relent and let the witch in and use the fire to light her pipe. That is when their troubles begin. The old woman changes them into various forms of food and hauls them off to her cave to have "dinner." Upon return the mother finds her children missing and is tipped off by a bird and her quest to retrieve her children begins. First the narrative: Personally I feel that Audrey Wood is one of the best writers of children's books in the business. I have yet to run across a bit of her work that I did not like, and more importantly, have never found one of her books that children did not enjoy. With this particular work, she has used the mode of the fairy tale or folk tale and used it quite effectively. The reader is instantly reminded of either the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson. Wood stays true to the format through to the end. This work captures the times (16th century fairy setting), perfectly. Secondly: the illustrations in this book are absolutely the best. Details, blends of color, the darkness, shading and stetting match the text perfectly and are an absolute feast for the eyes. This is one of those works that can be viewed over and over again and something new will be spotted with each viewing. His human figures are absolutely delightful; think of a softer Thomas Hart Benton and you have a good idea of what this artist is doing. Now there are aspects of this story that are rather dark; kidnapping and let's face it, implied cannibalism could quite well be a bit scary for some children. The paintings are dark for the most part and do have a brooding aspect to some of them. Each parent knows their own child best and it is at this point that parental judgment should be used. Each child is different. In my own experience I have not found this to be a problem as I h

I've read this book to a few students at a time. I always pause in the middle of it -- at the point where the witch challenges the mother to figure out which item is her child. On my table is a china pitcher, a box of salt, a tub of butter, a knife, and three other items. Then I challenge the children to figure out which item should go where on the picture. Their eyes gleam when they understand and solve the puzzle themselves. Afterwards, it is fun to make pudding!

I enjoyed reading this story to my class. My class still get excited every time I read this story to them. I now read this story to other classes and still get amazed at the look on their faces when they see the pictures and when I sound like the witch in the story, My class especially enjoys the children names, Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday,Saturday,Sunday. They always want to say it along with me. I have bought all of Audrey and Don Wood's books. I would love to meet them and tell them thank you for writing a wonderful and inspiring book for us all.

At first glance, you might not guess this book would be so captivating for young children. It's a little dark, and relatively sophisticated. But even the very young will sit mesmerized by this tale.