THE WHISTLING TEAKETTLE And Other Stories About Hannah

by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1977

Four stories about ""a girl named Hannah,"" vaguely set (in Nyack, N.Y., in the Thirties), loosely structured, but lovingly populated and provisioned. In the first, it's Parents' Day at school, and Hannah's shame at her father's arrival with a chocolate ice cream cone gives way to appreciation: ""He brought me his favorite flavor. . . . My father likes me!"" The next is not very different--a belated recognition that Aunt Becky's lumpy knitting is good for something, that ""the thought that counts"" can also ""come in handy."" But it is the third episode, Hannah's visit to her grandparents who have a candy store in the Bronx, that registers as an experience and a story. Grandma is wont to return all presents as ""not a necessity,"" and she dismisses Hannah's proffered whistling teakettle too--until a day of delights (with Hannah waiting on customers and helping herself) climaxes in the rout of a robber frightened off by the kettle's screech. The kettle that, now, Grandma must keep. Finally, elegiacally, Grandma comes to visit Hannah in the country, perseveres up her special mountain, and genuinely admires the view. She may not make it to the top again, but ""sometimes to share something lovely even once can be enough to last a lifetime."" To have captured that feeling even intermittently may be enough to commend the book.

Pub Date: April 1, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1977

Categories: FICTION