Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters
By Matt Berman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Delightful tall tales great for reading aloud.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
Where to Read
Community Reviews
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
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.
Talk to Your Kids 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.
Book Details
- Author: Patricia McKissack
- Illustrator: André Carrilho
- Genre: Short Stories
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Random House
- Publication date: October 22, 2006
- Number of pages: 146
- Last updated: September 22, 2015
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Read
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate