Illustrated by William Pene Du Bois
copyright 1966
Although this book has been around for over 50 years, I just read it for the first time this week. I’ve realized there are a number of Roald Dahl books I haven’t read, and after enjoying this one so much, I am inspired to check out the rest.
This is a little book, but it comes with a big (and obvious)
moral lesson.
Next door to the Gregg family lives a girl with a special
power. When she gets really, really, mad, she has the power to cause havoc on
whoever is vexing her. In this case, the Gregg family loves to hunt, and
carelessly shoots a duck family out of the sky. The girl does not like hunting,
and her anger at the family causes her magic finger to temporarily turn the
Gregg family into ducks. Meanwhile, the
remaining grieving members of the duck family transform into humans. After a
night spent in a nest along with fear at being shot by the duck-human family
that has taken up residence in their house, the Greggs realized the error of
their ways. They have been transformed! Having spent a day as ducks, they now
go out of their way to show kindness to the animals and decide to never hunt
again!
The girl’s finger truly is magical, for it has shown an
entire family the consequences of their actions and given them the gift of
empathy for the powerless.
How powerful it is to walk in another’s shoes!
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