Freddy the Pied Piper by Walter R. Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars A Dispersed Circus and a Concentration of Mice? Call a Pig! It's deep in a long cold snowy winter on the Bean farm in NY State when Jerry the rhinoceros of Mr. Boomschmidt's Colossal and Unparalleled Circus appears there, having traveled from Virginia to seek the advice of Freddy: poet, editor, banker, detective, and pig of many disguises and interests. The problem is that the harsh wartime economy drove Mr. Boomschmidt to retreat his circus to Virginia to wait out the hard times, but he ran out of money for animal food, so he had to disperse the animals and workers across America to join zoos or to live off the land. Freddy really wants to help Mr. Boomschmidt because the circus has often helped the pig in the past. At the same time, the nearby town of Centerboro is experiencing mouse trouble, with houses and even the bank being infested. Will Freddy be able to solve both problems? The title of the book, Freddy the Pied Piper (1946), hints at his plan . . . But how will the four mouse cousins who live with him on the Bean farm (Eek, Quik, Eeny, and Cousin Augustus) take it when he recruits a gang of abandoned cats and starts charging $5.00 per house to drive the Centerboro mice (including the aunt of the four farm mice) out into the snow? And will Mr. Boomschmidt, who has his pride, accept Freddy's nearly $2,000 of resulting mouse money to put the circus back in business? And even if he does, how will all the scattered circus animals be found? The novel answers those questions in author Walter R. Brooks' usual entertaining and unpredictable ways. In addition to Jerry, Freddy is helped in his plans and adventures by Jinx the cat, Old Whibley the owl, Leo the lion, Willy the boa constrictor, Phil the vulture, Mrs. Church (a wealthy and eccentric and generous woman), and Mr. Weezer (the money-loving but reasonable Centerboro bank president). He is hindered by some unpleasant people, including Gwetholinda Guffin, an exploitive pet shop owner who sells fake canaries, and Mr. Bleech, a greedy man who rides a lean and fast cow. Brooks imagines a world in which all animals (including birds, insects, and reptiles) can speak with each other and with humans (though the creatures tend to avoid startling humans with speech). He also creates a moral system whereby anyone who abuses animals or looks down on them is in store for some narrative punishment, while anyone who likes animals and tries to help them or communicate with them is in store for some reward, even if it's only having their lives enriched by widening their vision and circle of friends. (The uncaged animals of Mr. Boomschmidt's circus help run the show.) There is much humor in the book: Jinx trying to paint himself while he's sleeping; Freddy posing like a lion so Jinx can paint one to show migrating birds; Freddy's four mice friends giving him the "silent" treatment after his mousing business does too well; a feckless duck courting duck sisters Emma and Alice at the expense of their pompous Uncle Wesley; a camel, cow, goat, and rhino running a $200 race; Madame Delphine telling dodgy fortunes with coffee-grounds; a cookie-loving buzzard receiving a special circus job; and more. In the novel Brooks really enjoys animal behavior and human foibles (sometimes at the same time) and provides fresh perspectives on them with a good-natured wisdom underpinning everything. Here are four examples: --"What I don't understand," Freddy said, "is why we're always superstitious about things that bring bad luck. Why can't we be superstitious about good luck? I mean, instead of thinking it's bad luck when you spill the salt, why not think it's good luck when you spill the pepper?" --"I don't know why people always have to bring pigs into it when they want to say something mean about somebody." --"Jinx had decided to come along. He had got so interested in painting that he hated to leave his studio, but as he said, he had the rest of his life to paint in, while a chance to have all sorts of adventures in good company didn't come very often." --"'Well, Leo, don't just stand there! Tell me what money is!' 'It's the root of all evil, chief,' said the lion. 'And boy, how you dig for it!'" The black and white illustrations by Kurt Wiese are, as usual, just right: realistic, funny, beautiful, and blessedly un-cute. From 1927 till 1958, Brooks wrote 26 stand-alone books featuring the pig. They may be read in any order, though the first few books depict animals who can talk with each other but not to people, whereas the later ones show animals and people talking together, and the early books introduce characters who recur in later ones. Apart from some repetition, as when Brooks has Freddy comically disguise himself as a little old lady in multiple books, throughout the Freddy books he is remarkably good at writing different plots, themes, and wise and witty lines about animals, people, and life. As I continue reading or re-reading them 45 years after I originally enjoyed some of them in the 1960s, their humor and wisdom continue to impress me. And the whole series has been brought back into print by Overlook Press and are being made into audiobooks perfectly read by John McDonough. View all my reviews
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