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rachelhelps's review
4.0
This Irish folktale accompanied our study of the selkie. My first-grader had a little bit of hard time understanding how the Pooka tricked Jamie at the end, but I think she understood it after I explained it to her. The text used Irish turns of phrase ("give us a kiss and be off with you") and I couldn't help but try to emulate an Irish accent when I read it aloud.
yasminwooldridge's review
2.0
A near identical story about a house goblin or brownie in other Irish legends, but it's been a young woman in the past that gave the being a coat and suddenly it's too good for cleaning up and goes away never to be seen again. I thought the pooka was too mischievous to clean house, however, this was slightly amusing all the same.
mrs_erven's review
1.0
I never thought I’d rate a Tomie DePaola book one star but my sons and I both loathed this one
No redemption, no just deserts, no satisfying ending, nothing. Ugh. We were sorely disappointed
No redemption, no just deserts, no satisfying ending, nothing. Ugh. We were sorely disappointed
libraryrobin's review
3.0
Cute folktale with good illustrations. Exactly what you'd expect from Tomie.
kellylovesbooks's review
2.0
If you have any fondness for the movie Harvey, this book is likely to induce feelings of outrage.
Jamie O'Rourke, "the laziest man in all of Ireland," encounters a pooka when his wife travels to see her sister. Unlike the lovable rabbit of the James Stewart film, this pooka seems to be a cross between a rabbit and a donkey, with something vaguely demonic about the eyes. The pictures of the pooka himself might be off-putting to children-- they certainly were to me.
I would be interested to discuss this text with a particular young moralist of my acquaintance, to see whether he believes Jamie got what he deserved, or whether the pooka did him wrong. While I would hope to find other Irish tales for children, this book could certainly be used to start interesting debates. I’ll stick with the Jimmy Stewart movie myself, though.
Jamie O'Rourke, "the laziest man in all of Ireland," encounters a pooka when his wife travels to see her sister. Unlike the lovable rabbit of the James Stewart film, this pooka seems to be a cross between a rabbit and a donkey, with something vaguely demonic about the eyes. The pictures of the pooka himself might be off-putting to children-- they certainly were to me.
I would be interested to discuss this text with a particular young moralist of my acquaintance, to see whether he believes Jamie got what he deserved, or whether the pooka did him wrong. While I would hope to find other Irish tales for children, this book could certainly be used to start interesting debates. I’ll stick with the Jimmy Stewart movie myself, though.
heatherliz's review
5.0
I read a whole bunch of kids books to boost my book number for the year, but I mainly read this because I have a long standing obsession with Harvey.
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