Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears

It is fall and juicy things are growing in Mr. Putter’s backyard—apples, tomatoes, and pears. Mr. Putter dreams of all the juicy things he loves to eat, but most of all, he dreams of pear jelly. There’s only one problem—cranky legs keep him from climbing up to pick the pears. His ingenious solution will have young readers cheering him on.

When he gets too old to climb up the ladder, Mr. Putter and his cat Tabby figure out an ingenious way to pick pears for pear jelly.

Written by established authors, this book follows the prescribed formula for all beginning readers: they have large print, simple words, plenty of space between lines, and just enough pictures to keep the reader from feeling overwhelmed by the text.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3In this fourth book about the two seniors who are special friends, Mr. Putter dreams about the many ways he will use his ripe tomatoes, applesand especially pears. But when he tries to climb the ladder to pick the green edibles, his cranky legs force him to stay on the ground. Remembering his younger days, he makes himself a slingshot and uses fallen apples as ammunition. Unfortunately, he is unable to hit his targets. But what fun to sling those apples and watch them go ``...over the tree, over the chimney, over the house.'' The next day, he and his old cat Tabby feel sorry for themselves until their neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, arrives with her dog and a feast of apple turnovers, pies, jelly, and cider. Mr. Putter then decides what to do about the pearsjust wait for them to fall. Rylant's originality continues in this autumnal adventure. She uses repetition to reinforce vocabulary development and word recognition; however, she also uses both simple and compound sentences, dialogue, and expressive language so that the story is neither stilted nor boring. Howard's watercolor illustrations fit the text perfectly, providing humor and warmth.Mary Ann Bursk, Bucks County Free Library, Levittown, PA

CYNTHIA RYLANT is the acclaimed author of many beloved books for young people, including the Mr. Putter & Tabby series, the novel Missing May, which received the Newbery Medal, and the Little Whistle series. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

ARTHUR HOWARD is best known as the illustrator of Cynthia Rylant's Mr. Putter & Tabby series. He is also the illustrator of Kathi Appelt's Bubba and Beau series and has written and illustrated picture books of his own. He lives in New York City.