Sunday, June 8, 2008

Show and Tell

Here is my latest entry for Mel's Show and Tell:



This was my FAVORITE book growing up. If you look closely you can tell that the book cover is well-worn and held together at the top and bottom with clear packing tape. My mom used to read this book with an Irish accent and reeeaaaaaallly emphasize the phrase "Leprechauns never lie!," which is repeated often in the book.


**SPOILER ALERT** The following 2 paragraphs are a summary of the story. Skip if you don't want to know the story.


The book is about a VERY lazy girl, Ninny Nanny, who lives with her ailing Gram and the house is falling apart because never does her chores. The girl finds a leprechaun (who never lies) and tries to convince him to tell her where his pot of gold is. The leprechaun very cunningly tells her all the places his gold USED to be and in the process of her looking for the gold she ends up doing her chores (sorting the wood pile, filling the water barrel, thatching the roof with straw from the pile, digging up the potatoes in the potato patch). Finally Ninny Nanny is so tired from all the work and so frustrated with the leprechaun she decides to let him go.


The good news is that now she and Gram have a warm house and food in their belly. Unfortunately, Ninny Nanny was still too lazy because she left 1 potato plant in the garden. Late that night the leprechaun returned and dug up the remaining potato plant, picked up his pot of gold and rushed off to find a new hiding spot.


*************


As a soon-to-be parent I really like the message of the book. As a kid I thought the book was funny and I would yell at the girl about where the gold really was. I have many good memories of reading this book with my mom. I highly recommend this book for any parents who are looking for good books to read to their children. I looked at Bar.nes and Nobl.es' website and it looks like the book was re-released, with a new cover. If you decide to get the book, let me know what you think. =)

5 comments:

AwkwardMoments said...

Oh great. I love good books. I will have to look into htis. * i skipped the spoiler

Jessica White said...

It sounds like a great book! I'm going to try and get it off of Amazon.com.
I love books! Especially children's books...I already have a pretty good stash waiting.

here via NCLM

dmarie said...

Never heard of that book, but I love the story.

Anita said...

Stopping by from Mel's Show and Tell.

What a charming book. I'm going to see if I can find it for our little guy.

DC said...

I skipped the spoiler. Can't wait to read it! :)