Ginny Goblin Is Not Allowed to Open this Box by David Goodner, pictures by Louis Thomas

Ginny Goblin Is Not Allowed to Open This Box
by David Goodner, pictures by Louis Thomas
Review Copy from HMH Books
Story: Ginny Goblin has been presented with a beautiful box that she cannot open until dinnertime. OF COURSE she can't wait! As the story unfolds, all the things Ginny Goblin is not allowed to do in an effort to get to that box before dinnertime are played out, presumably in her imagination... She is not allowed to drag a chair over and climb up to the shelf where the box is waiting. Nor is she allowed to put on a ninja suit and use a rope and grappling hook to reach that box. As Ginny Goblin's plans get more elaborate, the box moves to more inaccessible locations, like a the top of a tower perched at the top of a misty mountain. And she definitely is not allowed to train mountain goats, use a catapult or poke serpents in a moat with a stick in her efforts to get to that box before dinnertime! The story escalates with hilarity and suspense until it's time to wash her hands for dinner and Ginny is FINALLY allowed to open that box! What's inside and what happens next? You'll just have to read for yourselves!


Pictures: Thomas's illustrations are hysterical. There is a fluidity to Ginny's movements and an intense intelligence in her expressions. Somehow, the fact that Ginny is a goblin makes everything about this fantastic story even better. You expect a human kid not to have the patience to wait until dinner, but watching a goblin scheme is as delicious as what waits for her in the box...
Why Read? Why Buy?: This book is FUN. And unlike any I have read before. The inability to be patient and wait is universal for kids, and there are actually very few (good) picture books about this daily phenomenon of childhood. 



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