The Money We'll Save
Ma gives Pa clear directions when he heads to market: Buy two eggs and a half pound of flour. Nothing more; Christmas is near and they need to watch every penny if the family is to have a special holiday dinner. But susceptible Pa arrives home with a turkey poult. “It will fatten up into a fine bird, and we can have it for Christmas dinner. Think of the money we’ll save!” The complications of raising a turkey in a tenement apartment soon become clear, as the growing bird (christened Alfred) makes a mess, needs more than table scraps in his diet, and gets in everyone’s way. But Pa always has a solution: first a pen on the fire escape, then a pen hung on the clothesline, and finally Alfred in the bedroom while the family moves into the kitchen and parlor. At last Christmas arrives, and the problem can be solved once and for all by putting Alfred on the menu … or can it? This cumulative story with a clever and satisfying conclusion is brought to humorous life by illustrations of a working family living in nineteenth-century New York City. ©2011 Cooperative Children's Book Center
Illustrated by Brock Cole
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 4-8
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
19th Century
Celebrations, Holidays, and Observances
City Life
Economic Hardship and Poverty
Historical Fiction
Humor
Irony
Pets
Surprise Endings
U.S. History
Publishers:
Farrar Straus Giroux, Margaret Ferguson Books
Publish Year: 2011
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780374350116
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Cole