 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters
- By Patricia McKissack
- Genre: Short Stories
Common Sense Media says
Delightful tall tales great for reading aloud.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that there's little to be concerned about here and much to be admired.
What's the story?
Ten short stories, crosses between tall tales and 20th-century trickster tales, are all told while sitting on a porch in the summertime. Most of the stories involve someone being outwitted: A baker is conned out of pie, a con man wins a bet by being honest, an old woman outwits Frank and Jesse James, a man fakes out a houseful of ghosts, and more.
Is it any good?
The best thing about this delightful and often hilarious series of tall tales is the setting. The days of sitting around on a hot porch at night, sipping lemonade and swapping stories, seem so distant now -- a precious part of our common culture that's vanishing under the onslaught of media, air conditioning, and loss of community.
The stories in PORCH LIES: TALES OF SLICKSTERS, TRICKSTERS, AND OTHER WILY CHARACTERS are about our neighbors -- ordinary people we can recognize, every one of them likable and charming, in relatively modern settings. They imbue the everyday with humor, magic, and mystery and could be the inspiration for a few readers to try their hand at creating tall tales out of everyday life. The collection is marred only by the artwork. The drawings are so weirdly stylized and caricatured that, though some may find them funny, others may find them a shade too close to a minstrel show for comfort.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the morals in each story. Why are the tricksters often the most sympathetic characters? Why is it often only the children who see the good in them? Families may be inspired by the storytelling tradition depicted here to try telling some of their own tales.
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| Author: | Patricia McKissack |
| Illustrator: | André Carrilho |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Short Stories |
| Publisher: | Random House |
| Publication date: | October 22, 2006 |
| Number of pages: | 146 |
| Hardcover price: | $18.95 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 8 - 12 |
| Read aloud: | 8 |
| Read alone: | 9 |
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