Plot Summary

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble written and illustrated by William Steig is a classic fictional picturebook.  This fictional story is equipped with animals with human characteristics such as their way of life and the ability to talk.  Like in any good children’s story the book also includes magic.

      Sylvester Duncan is a young boy donkey that is always looking for unusual looking pebbles to add to his collection.  One Saturday during his vacation he found a flaming red pebble that looked just like a marble, what he didn’t know is that it had magical powers.  Sylvester tested the pebbles magic on changing the weather before heading home to show his family.  The only thing he could think about on his walk was how everyone could have anything they have ever wanted.  But on the way home he ran into a hungry lion, he panicked and wished he were a rock.  Sylvester stayed a rock for months until his parents one spring day had a picnic on the rock.  The Duncan’s found the red pebble and wished Sylvester was with them without knowing the magic of the pebble, suddenly he turned into his old self again.  The family didn’t end up needing the magic pebble after all; all they could ever wish for was Sylvester.

Textual Elements

     The picture book is told in the third person, you follow Sylvester throughout the story.  At times the reader sees what other characters are doing while Sylvester is a rock but you can only hear Sylvester's thoughts, no one else's.

     The whole story is about how this young donkey found a magical pebble that could do anything in the world, but he wasn’t smart with it.  If Sylvester had truly thought about things before he made wishes he wouldn’t have been in the situation he was.  If he had taken a minute to think about being safe at home or turning the lion into something harmless Sylvester wouldn’t have become a rock when panicking in front of the lion.  After changing into a rock the only thing he wanted in the whole world was to be with his family, which he loved very much.

      The only main characters in the short book are Sylvester Duncan and his parents; no other characters are mentioned only types of animals looking for the young donkey after he disappears. 

      I think a strong theme of this picturebook is the importance of family.  Sylvester thought with his magical pebble he could get everything him, his family, and friends ever wanted.  Yet after he was separated from his family nothing else seemed to matter anymore.  He just wanted his family and they only wanted him, and they ultimately got their wish.  Their deepest wish was for something they had always had from the beginning.  “Mr. Duncan put the magic pebble in a iron save.  Some day they might want to use it, but really, for now, what more could they wish for?  They all had all that they wanted.” 

Artistic Elements 

     The illustrations in this picturebook are a classic example of cartoon art.  The pictures are not realistic to real life, the animals look like cartoon animals, they do not look like real donkeys or pigs.  The art is done through a series of paintings; these paintings have an outline style.  Outline style art emphasizes everything in the drawings with bold black lines.  This style of art is common with cartoon art.  The black outlines often help two-dimensional pictures pop out more.  Although this picturebook has the outline style the overall picture itself is not outlined.  The paintings have no real shape, they seem to end where the illustrator wanted, and there is no real shape to them. 

     Majority of the pictures take up most of the page with the storybook text underneath them.  There are a few pages in the book that have two pictures on one page, yet the pictures are not fully drawn.  The smaller pictures are of one character outlined without the finished background of sky or nature.

Analysis and Critique

     This was one of my favorite books when I was a little girl.  Every night before I would go to bed my parents would read me a book and this was one that they read hundreds of times to me.  Now that I read the book as an adult I don’t understand what I liked so much about it.  The storyline is very simple with no real excitement.  There is magic in the story but nothing too exciting, Sylvester changes the weather a few times to test the pebbles magic but then panics and turns himself into a rock before he can wish for anything fun.  After Sylvester turns into a rock the book becomes a sad story because his family is worried about him and would do anything to get him back.  The whole time he is a rock he only thoughts and wishes he has are to be with his family whom he loves so much.  I didn’t enjoy this book as an adult but it does have a good meaning behind it.  The book teaches children that their parents love them more than anything and family is the most important thing in life.  In the end it didn’t matter what Sylvester and his family could have got with the magic pebble, they had each other and that was all they needed to be happy.

Citation

Steig, William. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 1969.

References