THE GREAT GREEN TURKEY CREEK MONSTER

by James Flora ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 1976

It's long and wiggly like an endless green worm. . . or perhaps an octopus or centipus, with eyes on the end of each arm. . . or some kind of animate vine all covered with leaves. Dousing it with the fire hose only makes it grow, and even Ernie Bogwater whose seed store it springs from can't tell the sheriff how to stop it. ""It wasn't a mean vine or a nasty vine, but you never knew what it was going to do next""--and if the mischief it perpetrates would be less than hilarious from human hands, its pranks do have the advantage of pleasing Turkey Creek's kids and embarrassing the officials. (""It painted HA-HA all over the jail house. . . . It locked the principal in the girl's room and he wasn't a girl."") And of course it's a kid, trombonist Argie Bargle, who saves the town from the Hooligan Vine when he discovers the monster is allergic to his music; by this time Turkey Creek--and the pages--have become so clogged with leafy green undulation that any solution will make as much sense as it has to. Flora's humor is not a matter of bright ideas anyway--but it does have a certain primordial hardiness to which the youngest are the most responsive.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1976

Categories: CHILDREN'S